t  ft*  mtohsimi  s 

^V  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  ^ 


Library  of  Dr.  A.  A.  Hodge.     Presented. 


BX  5945  .W58  1848 
Whytehead,  Robert,  d.  1863. 
A  key  to  the  prayer  book  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal 


V? 


A   KEY 


THE    PRAYER    BOOK, 

OF   THE 

PROTESTANT  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH; 

DESIGNED  TO  ILLUSTRATE 

ITS   MEANING,    USE,    AND   SCRIPTURAL    CHARACTER. 
BY 

THE  REV.  ROBERT  WHYTEHEAD,  M.A. 

A  CLERGYMAN  OF    THE   CHURCH   OF   ENGLAND. 


"  Hold  fast  the  form  of  sound  words,  which  thou  hast  heard  of  me,  in  faith 
and  love  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus." — Tim.  1. 13. 


BEVISED,  AND    ADAPTED    TO    THE    AMERICAN    PRATER    BOOK,  BY    THE 

EXECUTIVE    COMMITTEE    OF    THE    "PROTESTANT    EPISCOPAL 

SOCIETY     FOR    THE    PROMOTION    OF    EVANGELICAL 

KNOWLEDGE." 


PHILADELPHIA: 

FOR  SALE  AT  THE  DEPOSITORY,  No  206  CHESNUT  ST. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1848,  by  the 

Executive  Committee  of  the  "Protestant  Episcopal 
Society  for  the  promotion  of  Evangelical  Knowledge," 

in  the  Office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Eastern 
District  of  Pennsylvania. 


Stereotyped  by 
DOUGLAS  WYETH.   No.  7  Peer  St., 
Philadelphia. 

Printed  by 
T.  K.  k  P.  G.  COLLINS. 


PREFACE 


SOCIETY'S    EDITION. 


The  Committee  think  themselves  happy  "in 
being  able  to  present  to  the  friends  of  the  So- 
ciety the  following  work,  as  their  first  publi- 
cation. Years  would  have  been  required  in 
the  preparation  of  such  "  a  Key"  as  is  here, 
in  the  good  Providence  of  God,  supplied  them 
by  the  piety,  discernment,  and  industry  of  a 
Clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England.  They 
would,  therefore,  thankfully  adopt  and  publish 
this  Volume  as,  in  the  main,  a  correct  expo- 
nent of  their  views,  and  as  a  book  every  way 
suitable  for  instruction  and  edification. 

It  may  be  well  to  state  that  the  present 
Edition  is  an  exact  reprint  of  the  Author's 
work,  with  these  two  exceptions : 

1.  Remarks  upon  those  offices  and  portions 
of  the  Service,  which  are  peculiar  to  the 
English  Prayer-Book  have  been  omitted. 


IV  PREFACE. 

2.  In  a  few  instances,  where  a  difference 
of  opinion  in  relation  to  any  important  prin- 
ciple or  practice  existed  between  the  esteemed 
Author  and  the  Committee,  the  latter  have 
not  hesitated  to  express,  and  to  attempt  the 
justification  of,  their  disagreement.  Such 
remarks,  however,  are  always  embodied  in 
brackets. 


RIGHT  REVEREND  FATHER  IN  GOD, 

JOHN    BIRD, 

LORD  BISHOP  OF  CHESTER. 

[NOW   ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY.] 

My  Lord, 

" It  is  a  very  small  thing"  with  you  to  "be 
judged  of  men,  or  of  man's  judgment ;"  and 
it  may  seem  presumptuous  in  me  to  shelter 
my  humble  volume  under  your  Lordship's 
kind  patronage.  But  I  venture  to  plead  in 
my  own  defence  not  only  my  deep  esteem  for 
your  Lordship's  character,  as  a  distinguished 
ornament  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  a 
consistent  exemplar  of  Christian  piety  and 
true  Churchmanship ;  but  also  the  stamp  of 
evangelical  currency — let  who  will  reject  it — 
which  the  influence  of  such  a  name  imparts 
to  any  work  to  which  it  is  (by  permission) 
prefixed. 

Truly  grateful  for  such  a  favour,  and  ear- 
1  *  v 


VI  DEDICATION. 

nestly  praying  that  it  may  please  God,  (by 
whose  grace  your  Lordship  has  been  made  a 
blessing  to  many,  and  a  pattern  to  all ;)  to 
prolong  your  valuable  life  for  many  years  to 
come,  and  crown  it  with  increasing  honour 
and  happiness, 
I  remain, 

Your  Lordship's 
Most  humble  and 
Devoted  servant, 

Robert  Whytehead. 


TO  THE   READER. 

Whoever  would  enter  into  the  Evangelical 
design  of  the  Prayer-Book,  must  bear  in  mind 
that  its  structure  is  purely  spiritual,  and  can 
be  fully  understood,  duly  appreciated,  and 
rightly  used  by  the  faithful  only.  FAITH  is 
the  Key  to  this  spiritual  Temple.  If  we  come 
to  it  with  a  child-like  temper,  mixing  faith 
with  these  blessed  words  of  prayer  and  pro- 
mise, culled  from  Holy  Scripture,  we  shall 
perceive  the  sunshine  of  grace  and  salvation 
beaming  throughout  its  deepest  recesses,  and 
the  glory  of  God  and  the  Lamb  irradiating  the 
whole. 


PKEFACE. 

The  object  of  the  present  work  is  to  supply 
(what  appears  to  the  writer  an  important  de- 
sideratum) an  Evangelical  illustration  of  the 
Prayer  Book,  combining  critical  remarks  and 
historical  details  of  an  interesting  character, 
with  practical  improvement,  and  spiritual  in- 
struction. 

In  executing  this  design,  free  use  has  been 
made  of  the  works  of  Bishops  Sparrow  and 
Mant;  Dean  Comber,  Nelson,  Wheatly,  Pal- 
mer, and  other  Liturgical  writers.  In  addi- 
tion to  which  will  be  found  many  original 
references  to  standard  authorities,  both  ancient 
and  modern,  quotations  from  the  Fathers,  and 
some  extended  remarks  on  questions  of  vital 
interest  at  the  present  day. 

The  object  of  the  writer  being  especially  to 
develop  the  true  principles  of  Reformed  piety, 
as  held  by  the  Protestant  founders  of  the 
Church  of  England,  and  displayed  in  her 
prayers  and  authorized  services;  he  has  en- 
deavoured constantly  to  keep  in  view  the  Ar- 
ticles and  Homilies  of  the  Church,  as  the  doc 

ix 


X  PREFACE. 

trinal  standard  which  the  compilers  of  our 
admirable  Liturgy  set  before  them  to  work 
by ;  and  the  chief,  though  not  the  only  guide 
of  the  true  Churchman  in  his  interpretation 
of  her  sentiments.1 

Without  undervaluing  the  learned  and  pious 
labours  of  our  old  Liturgical  writers,  or  pre- 
tending to  sit  in  judgment  on  the  distinguish- 
ed men  of  other  days;  and  making  all  due 
allowance  for  the  different  age  in  which  they 
lived,  and  the  peculiar  medium  through  which 
the  light  of  the  Gospel  reached  their  minds ; — 
he  cannot  allow  that  they  fairly  represent  the 
doctrines  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  England, 
as  exhibited  in  her  acknowledged  standards, 
and  in  the  writings  of  her  first  and  best  di- 
vines. 

His  endeavour,  therefore,  has  been  to  sepa- 
rate the  real  excellence  of  these  popular  works, 
from  the  debasing  alloy  with  which  it  is  amal- 
gamated.2 And,  surely,  the  evil  will  not  be 
denied  of  allowing  our  young  students  to  im- 
bibe their  views  of  Church  principles  from  so 
impure  a  source : — where  not  a  few  of  the  su- 
perstitious rites  of  Popery,  rejected  by  our 
Reformers,  are  extolled  with  blind  zeal ;  while 

1  That  the  Homilies,  as  well  as  the  Articles,  were  intended  to  be 
a  standard  of  appeal,  is  evident  from  the  reference  to  one  of  them 
in  the  Xlth  Article. 

2  Even  Dean  Comber,  the  most  evangelical  writer  of  this  class, 
maintains  the  doctrine  of  the  universal  Regeneration  of  Infants 
in  Baptism,  as  implying  a  change  of  nature. 


PREFACE.  XI 

the  letter  of  ceremonies  is  too  often  elevated, 
to  the  neglect  and  injury  of  the  spirit  of  the 
Gospel. 

That  the  English  Church,  during  the  greater 
part  of  the  last  century,  had  widely  departed 
from  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation,  can 
hardly  be  doubted  by  any  one  who  is  able  to 
form  a  correct  judgment  on  the  subject,  and 
who  is  conversant  with  the  writings  and  sen- 
timents of  the  leading  divines  of  that  period.1 

To  redress  so  lamentable  an  error,  much 
has  been  done  by  the  Divine  blessing  on  the 
labours  of  such  men  as  Scott,  Simeon,  the 
Milners,  Legh  Richmond,  and  many  more  of 
our  Evangelical  Churchmen.  Much,  how- 
ever, still  remains  to  be  accomplished.  The 
tide  has  again  set  in  strongly  towards  Rome, — 
and  it  is  the  duty  of  every  true  son  of  the 
Church  of  England  to  contribute  his  aid  to- 
wards  reviving  the  principles  of  the  blessed 
Reformation. 

Among  other  efforts,  the  publications  of  the 
Parker  Society  have  thrown  a  flood  of  light 
upon   the   sentiments  of  our    Reformers,  by 


1  A  painful  proof  of  this  statement  might  be  found,  if  need  be, 
in  the  general  character  of  the  publications  of  the  Society  for 
Promoting  Christian  Knowledge  ;  among  which,  down  to  a  very- 
recent  date,  the  excellent  Homilies  of  our  Church, — rich  in  the 
old  Saxon  vernacular,  not  less  than  in  Evangelical  force  and 
purity  of  doctrine,  and  however  obscure  and  distasteful  to  the 
educated  classes  of  society,  still  intelligible  and  acceptable  to  the 
pot  r;— could  find  no  place. 


Xll  PREFACE. 

bringing  out  of  the  shade  of  obscurity  the  ori- 
ginal works  of  Cranmer,  Ridley,  Latimer, 
Hooper,  Jewel,  and  other  "  reverend  Fathers 
and  great  Divines"  l  of  the  days  of  Edward 
and  Elizabeth. 

Of  these  the  Author  has  made  large  and 
frequent  use ;  having  placed  in  the  Notes  and 
Appendices  a  number  of  extracts,  including 
some  forms  of  private  prayer ; — intended  not 
only  to  illustrate  the  simple  and  fervent  piety 
of  our  Reformers,  but  to  show  how  the  Festi- 
vals of  our  Church  may  be  improved  by  the 
spiritual  worshipper. 

To  the  whole  is  added  a  copious  collection 
of  Scripture  references,2  which  the  writer 
hopes  will  be  found  very  useful  to  his  younger 
brethren,  and  the  teachers  of  youth  ;  to  assist 
them  in  the  important  work  of  explaining  and 
illustrating  the  services  of  the  Church.3 

1  Canon  xxx. 

2  Bailey's  "Liturgy  compared  with  the  Bible,"  having  been  dili- 
gently collated  with  Bishop  Mant's  Marginal  References. 

3  An  apology  ought,  perhaps,  to  be  offered  by  the  author,  for 
having  ventured  to  notice  some  things  which  appeared  to  him 
capable  of  improvement ;  e.  g.  the  Apocryphal  lessons,  the  omis- 
sion of  the  Revelation, &c.    He 

feels  that  this  was  not  the  place  for  any  lengthened  discussion  on 
such  subjects ;  and  he  tri\sts  he  will  be  cleared  by  the  impartial 
reader  from  all  suspicion  of  disaffection  towards  the  Church  and 
her  services;  or  any  wish  to  unsettle  and  prejudice  the  minds 
of  others.  But  after  weighing  the  matter  deliberately  and  calmly, 
he  has  come  to  the  conclusion,  that  it  is  desirable  that  the  public 
mind  should  be  suitably  enlightened,  guided,  and  expressed, — and 
thus  the  way  prepared  for  a  wise  and  moderate  reform, — on  the 


PREFACE.  Xlll 

It  has  been  suggested  by  a  judicious  friend, 
that  it  might  be  advantageous  to  the  general 
reader  to  peruse  each  chapter,  in  the  first  in- 
stance, without  the  notes  ;  that  the  current  of 
thought  and  devotional  feeling  may  not  be  in- 
terrupted : — at  the  second  perusal,  taking  the 
notes,  especially  the  reference  to  Scripture,  in 
their  due  order. 

To  the  Reverend  Charles  Bridges,  Vicar  of 
Old  Newton,  the  author  is  indebted  for  many 
suggestions,  and  much  valuable  assistance  ;  as 
well  as  for  that  kind  and  seasonable  encou- 
ragement which  has  enabled  him  to  persevere 
in  his  arduous  labour,  and  cheered  him  on  to 
its  termination. 

To  take  off  the  edge  of  severe  criticism,  not 
to  palliate  any  serious  error,  it  may  be  stated, 
that  the  work  has  been  composed  under  all 
the  disadvantages  of  broken  health,  and  ex- 
hausted energies,  during  a  six  years'  suspen- 
sion from  active  ministerial  labour.  Conscious 
of  many  imperfections,  and  much  incompe- 
tence, the  Author  commends  his  feeble  attempt 
to  the  candour  and  kindness  of  his  readers. 
Above  all,  he  implores  their  prayers  for  His 
blessing,  "  without  whom  nothing  is  strong, 
nothing  is  holy"  If  any  one  should  rise  from 
its  perusal  a  more  enlightened   Churchman, 


few  particulars,  which  really  need  the  attention  of  our  Spiritual 
Governors. 

2 


XIV  PREFACE. 

and  a  better  Christian,  his  chief  desire  will  be 
so  far  accomplished. 

To  use  the  words  of  a  devout  writer,1  whose 
piety  he  reverences,  and  to  whose  learned  la- 
bours he  freely  acknowledges  his  obligation, 
though  compelled  occasionally  to  differ  from 
his  religious  sentiments; — "  provided  he  can, 
but  in  the  least  manner,  promote  a  sense  of 
religion  among  those  that  want  it,  or  contri- 
bute to  the  increase  of  it  where  it  is  already 
entertained,  he  will  be  much  better  pleased 
than  to  deserve  the  praises  of  the  most  accom- 
plished critic." 

Elvington  Hall,  near  York. 
December  \$th,  1846. 


1  Nelson's  Preface  to  his  "  Companion  to  the  Feasts  and  Fasts 
of  the  Church  of  England." 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE  CHURCH ITS   AUTHORITY DUTY  OF  SUBMISSION ITS 

LIMITS. 

Before  we  enter  upon  the  consideration  of  the  services  of 
the  Church,  it  is  desirahle  to  make  a  few  remarks  on  the 
nature  and  authority  of  the  Church  itself; — a  subject  which, 
at  the  present  day,  as  in  former  times,  has  been  the  ground, 
on  which  has  been  displayed  so  much  bitter  controversy, 
and  lamentable  error. 

A  Church '  is  a  society  of  professing  Christians,2  who 
have  the  pure  word  of  God  preached  among  them,  and  the 
ordinances  of  divine  appointment  duly  administered.3  Such 
is  the  definition  of  a  Church,  as  given  in  our  Articles  and 
authorized  standards ;  and  it  agrees  in  the  main,  with  the 
views  held  on  this  subject  by  the  Fathers  of  the  Reforma- 
tion.4 It  is  the  lowest  idea  we  can  form  of  a  Christian 
Church,  consistently  with  scripture  truth  ;  and  is  obviously 
framed  on  the  enlarged  and  liberal  design  of  comprehend- 
ing all  those  bodies  of  Christians,  which  worship  God  in  an 
orderly  manner,  use  the  outward  form  of  the  sacraments, 
and  hold  by  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Christian 
faith.5 

These  are  recognized  by  us  as  true  Churches  of  Christ, 

i  See  Note  A,  Appendix. 

2  "The  visible  Church  of  Christ  is  a  congregation  of  faithful  men." — 
Art.  xix.  "  A  certain  multitude  of  men." — Nowell's  Catechism.  "  The 
true  Church  is  an  universal  congregation  or  fellowship  of  God's  faithful 
and  elect  people." — Horn,  xxviii.  2.  "  A  Church  is  a  Society ;  that  is,  a  num- 
ber of  men  belonging  unto  some  Christian  fellowship,  the  place  and 
limits  whereof  are  certain." — Hooker,  Ecc.  Pol.  iii.  1  (14).  "  A  Religious 
Society:'  v.  68,  (6). 

3  See  Note  B,  Appendix,  and  Calvin  on  Acts  ii.  42. 

*  See  Note  C,  Appendix.  6  See  Appendix  D. 

(15) 


16  CHURCH    VISIBLE    AND    INVISIBLE. 

so  far  as  that  their  administration  of  Baptism  is  held  by  our 
Church  to  be  valid,  and  is  therefore  never  repeated  ;  what- 
ever errors  in  doctrine  or  discipline,  not  subverting  the 
fundamentals  of  Christianity,  they  may  have  fallen  into.' 
W  e  receive  them,  as  far  as  they  appear  to  us  to  have  re- 
ceived the  scriptural  model  of  a  Church,  and  to  have  been 
with  ourselves  received  by  Christ.2  But  all  such  societies 
are  not  held  to  be  true  Churches  of  Christ  in  the  fullest 
sense  of  the  word,  so  that  we  may  safely  hold  communion 
with  them ;  some  being  erroneous  in  one  respect,  and  some 
in  another.3 

The  first  faint  outline  of  a  Church  appeared  in  the  family 
worship  of  the  Patriarchs,  at  their  altars  and  under  the  sha- 
dow of  their  groves.  The  elevation  of  the  spiritual  building 
was  carried  much  higher  under  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  in 
the  tabernacle  and  temple  services  of  the  typical  Israel.  But 
it  is  in  the  New  Testament  that  we  are  to  look  for  the  com- 
pletion of  the  original  design, — that  spiritual  "  Jerusalem, 
which  is  the  mother  of  us  all," 4 — which  is  built  upon  the 
doctrine  and  labours  of  Apostles  and  Prophets,  Jesus  Christ 
himself,  in  his  person  and  work,  being  its  only  foundation 
of  support,  and  "  chief  corner-stone."  3 

This  leads  us  to  a  second  distinction  of  the  visible  from 
the  invisible  Church  ;  the  former  comprehending  all  those 
who,  in  the  manner  above  stated,  make  a  profession  of 
Christianity  ;  the  latter  embracing  those  only  who  are  truly 
living  members  of  Christ's  mystical  body.6 

That  such  a  distinction  is  real,  and  founded  upon  Scripture, 

i  See  Bishop  Burnet  on  Art.  xix.  p.  274—277. 

-   Rom  xiv.  1 ;  xv.  7. 

'i  [The  author  is  not  understood  here  as  asserting,  that  some  of  these 
societies  are  noitrue  churches  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  word.  Respecting 
those  that  hold  "  the  fundamentals  of  Christianity,"  but  differ  from  us  in 
ecclesiastical  order — it  would,  no  doubt,  correspond  with  his  views  to  ac- 
knowledge them  as  fully  true  churches,  but  yet  not  to  regard  them  as 
holding  the  same  amount  of  Scriptural  truth  with  ourselves,  nor  as  having 
equally  excellent  institutions.]    See  Appendix  E. 

4  Gal.  v.  26.    Comp.  Heb.  xii.  22. 

s  Eph  iii.  20.    Comp.  1  Cor.  iii.  11;  Isa.  xxviii.  16;  1  Pet.  ii.  6. 

6  See  Appendix  F. 


SPIRITUAL    SERVICES.  17 

we  may  safely  collect  from  such  passages  as  the  following, 
which  fully,  prove,  as  our  Church  declares,  that  "  in  the 
visible  Church  the  evil  are  ever  mingled  with  the  good."  ' 

Our  blessed  Lord  compares  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  a 
field,  in  which  tares  grow  up  with  the  wheat ;  and  to  a  net 
which  brought  up  good  and  bad  fishes.2 

And,  in  the  Epistles,  we  find  that  the  inspired  writers  ad- 
dressed all  who  were  in  the  visible  Church  as  "  saints," 3 
"  faithful  brethren,"  4  and  "  children  of  God ;"  5  though 
some  had  grievously  departed  from  the  faith  of  Christ ; 6 
others  were  living  in  gross  sin  ; 7  and  concerning  not  a  few 
there  was  reason  to  fear,  that  they  were  deceiving  them- 
selves, being  "  enemies  of  the  crpss  of  Christ." 8 

This  being  the  case,  it  follows  that  the  only  way  of  joining 
in  divine  worship,  in  a  spiritual  manner,  in  a  body  so  mixed 
and  uncertain,  is  to  suit  its  services,  and  the  general  language 
employed  in  its  addresses  to  God,  to  the  character  of  its 
truly  spiritual  members ; — those  who  are  justified  by  faith, 
and  renewed  by  the  Holy  Spirit ; — who  alone  constitute  the 
true  Church  of  Christ :  while  the  rest  are  but  seldom  re- 
presented in  public  worship,  though  perhaps  usually  con- 
stituting a  very  large  proportion  of  the  assembled  wor- 
shippers. 

This  system  has  often  been  objected  to,  as  leading  to  self- 
deception,  and  encouraging  merely  nominal  Christians  in 
the  groundless  supposition,  that  they  possess  all  that  is  re- 
quired of  them  by  the  Church,  in  whose  pure  worship  they 
are  permitted  to  join,  and  whose  holy  name  they  bear. 

But  it  must  be  remembered,  that  this  evil,  though  in  some 
measure  real,  is  inseparable  from  every  mode  of  public 
worship ;  and  is  by  no  means  peculiar  to  our  own  Liturgy, 
or  to  a  form  of  prayer. 

i   Article  xxvi.    See  Appendix  G. 

2  Matt.  xiii.  24—26;  47,  48.    See  also  iii.  12;  xxv.  1,  2.    John  xv.  1,  2. 

3  Rom   i.  7.     1  Cor  i.  2.    Eph.  i.  1.    Phil.  i.  1.  •*  Col.  i.  2. 

5  Gal.  iii.  26 ;  iv.  5—7.     Comp.  Rom.  viii.  14—16. 

6  1  Cor.  xv.  34,  35.    Gal.  iii.  1 ;  v.  4.  7  I  Cor.  v.  1 ;  vi.  8- 
*  Phil  iii.  18,  19. 

2* 


18  NO    PERFECTLY    PUKE    CHURCH. 

It  is  owing  to  the  corruption  of  human  nature,  which  per- 
verts the  best  designs,  and,  though  deplored  and  testified 
against,  must  still  be  endured.  For  the  Church,  in  her 
present  state,  is  not  endowed  with  that  knowledge  of  the 
heart  and  character  of  professors,  which  alone  could  qualify 
her  to  separate  the  tares  from  the  wheat.1  Nor,  after  all, 
can  we  admit  the  force  of  the  objection,  while  we  see  God 
himself  adopting  a  similar  method,  and  applying  the  same 
indiscriminate  language  to  the  true  and  visible  Church ; 2 
warning,  at  the  same  time,  against  the  imminent  danger  of 
mistake  and  self-deception.3  The  failure  of  all  attempts  to 
form  a  perfect  Church,  in  this  imperfect  dispensation,  shows 
that  no  complete  remedy  can  be  expected.  Yet  scriptural 
discipline,  (under  the  want  of  which  our  Church  has  long 
groaned,)  could  doubtless  do  much  in  cutting  off  false  mem- 
bers.4 The  faithful  preaching  of  the  word  also,  by  sifting 
men's  characters,  and  searching  their  consciences,  "  sepa- 
rates," to  some  extent,  "  between  the  precious  and  the  vile." 5 
Thus,  while  our  Church,  in  her  common  prayer,  speaks  of 
all  her  members  as  "  dearly  beloved  brethren,"  in  her  Homi- 
lies she  wields  "  the  sword  of  the  spirit"  6  with  sound  dis- 
crimination, and  with  its  keen  edge  gives  many  an  effective 
blow  against  Pharisaic  formality  and  hypocrisy.7  And  that 
sword,  we  know,  can  "  pierce  even  to  the  dividing  asunder 
of  soul  and  spirit ;  and  is  a  discerner  of  the  thoughts  and 
intents  of  the  heart." 8 

There  are  three  orders  of  ministers  in  the  [Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church,]  Bishops,  Priests,  and  Deacons,,  who  preach 

i   Matt.  xiii.  28,-30.  2  isa  i.  3,4 ;  lxiii.  8.    Jer.  iv.  22 ;  iii.  14,  &c. 

:*  1  Cor.  x.  1—12.    Heb.  iv.  1—11.    Comp.  Psalm  xcv.  7—11;  cxlix.  1. 

4  Comp.  John  xv  2.  5  Jer.  xv.  19.  6  Epb.  vi.  17. 

7  See  Homilies  ii.  xxvi.  xxvii,  &c.  This  remark  may  tend  to  elucidate 
the  meaning  of  the  Church,  when  she  says,  in  the  Baptismal  service, 
"  This  child  is  regenerate. : — whereas,  in  her  27th  Article,  she  speaks  more 
cautiously — "  Baptism  is  a  sign  of  Regeneration  ;"  and  again,  treating  the 
subject  practically,  in  the  Homily  for  Whitsunday,  she  appeals  to  the  work 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  heart,  as  the  only  solid  evidence  of  Regeneration; 
without  am/  mention  af  baptism. 

i   Heb.  iv.  12. 


AUTHORITY.  19 

the  word  of  God,  administer  the  Sacraments,  and  preside  in 
ptfblic  worship ;  and  to  whom  the  government  of  the  Church 
is  entrusted,  under  the  [authority  and  control  of  the  General 
Convention  of  the  Church  in  the  United  States.  '] 

The  authority  which  the  Church,  thus  constituted,  pos- 
sesses, extends  to  the  ordering  of  rites  and  ceremonies,  for 
the  due  performance  of  religious  worship ;  and  the  settle- 
ment of  controversies  on  points  of  faith.  This,  however — let 
it  be  carefully  observed — is  only  in  subordination  .  to  the 
Holy  Scriptures ;  the  Church  not  having  any  power  to  de- 
cree anything  contrary  to  the  word  of  God ;  nor  to  impose, 
as  an  article  of  faith,  any  doctrine  which  is  not  contained 
in  it. 2 

Thus  we  see  that  the  power  of  the  Church,  as  a  "  wit- 
ness" 3  and  "  keeper  of  the  truth," 4  is,  in  fact,  very  limited  ; 
and  by  no  means  of  that  absolute  and  despotic  character, 
which  some  persons  would  represent  it  to  be,  either  for  the 
purpose  of  raising  claims  of  extravagant  authority,  or  of  de- 
crying all  interference  in  spiritual  concerns.  These  oppo- 
site views  are  both  equally  hostile  to  truth,  and  sound  doc- 
trine. For  the  Scripture  enjoins  us  to  "  obey  them  that 
have  the  rule  over  us,  and  submit  ourselves ;" 5 — and  it 
seems  most  reasonable  that  the  ignorant  should  be  willing  to 
be  taught  by  the  more  instructed  ;  as  well  as  that  some  power 
of  restraint  should  be  reserved  to  our  ecclesiastical  rulers 
and  guides,  to  enable  them  to  keep  in  check  the  forwardness 
of  hasty  and  ungoverned  minds.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is 
alike  contrary  to  that  equality  which  should,  in  the  main, 
subsist  among  Christian  brethren,  and  to  that  moderation 
which  should  belong  to  the  followers  of  Jesus  ; 6  that  an  ar- 
bitrary and  irresponsible  power  of  judging  in  spiritual  matters 
should  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  any  number  of  fallible  men. 

1  Article  xxxvii.  See  also  Preface  to  the  Form  of  making  Bishops, 
Priests,  and  Deacons;  and  the  Chapter  on  that  subject  in  this  work,  (xiv) 

2  Article  xx.    Isaiah  viii.  20.    Gal.  i.  8,  9.  3   Article  xx. 

4  Isaiah  xxvi.  2.    Comp.  1  Tim.  iii.15. 

5  Heb.  xiii.  17.    Comp.  1.  Pet.  ii.  13. 
c  Matt.  xx.  25—38 ;  xxiii.  8—12. 


20  PRIVATE    JUDGMENT. 

The  right  of  private  or  individual  judgment  is  our  undoubted 
property  and  Christian  privilege :  nay  more,  it  is  a  duty 
which  we  are  bound  to  perform  for  the  glory  of  God,  and 
the  salvation  of  our  souls.'  But  this  right  may  easily  be  so 
exercised  as  to  become  a  bane  instead  of  a  blessing.  Our 
Church,  therefore,  has  wisely  taken  a  middle  course,  and, 
without  pretending  to  infallibility  in  her  decisions,  has  laid 
down,  in  her  Creeds  and  Articles,  certain  leading  Scriptural 
truths,  to  which  she  requires  the  assent  of  all  her  ministers, 
and  which  she  expects  them  to  inculcate  upon  her  professing 
members.2  To  whatever  objection  this  plan  may  still  be 
liable,  it  seems  to  come  as  near  to  the  perfection  of  Christian 
wisdom  and  charity,  as  can  well  be  attained  to  in  this  im- 
perfect dispensation. 

That  "  all  things  may  be  done  decently  and  in  order," 3 
it  is  needful  that  some  authority  should  be  exercised,  and 
some  regular  form  adopted,  for  the  administration  of  Divine 
ordinances.4  And,  in  like  manner,  it  seems  highly  expe- 
dient that  unprofitable  controversy  should  be  discouraged, 
that  it  may  not  distract  and  divide  the  Church ;  when  the 
exercise  of  combined  wisdom  and  prudence  on  the  one  hand, 
and  of  submission  and  moderation  on  the  other,  would  settle 
the  disorders,  which  have  too  often  arisen  from  the  uncon- 
trolled fancies  of  a  few  honest  but  mistaken  men.5 

Again,  the  efforts  of  the  designing  demagogue,  and  the 
heretical  teacher,  to  mislead  unstable  souls,  must  be  met  by 
corresponding  exertions  of  firmness  and  activity  on  the  part 
of  our  spiritual  heads ;  otherwise  the  worst  consequences 
might  be  expected  to  ensue.6  God  has,  indeed,  promised  to 
lake  care  of  his  Church,  and  to  "  be  with  her  always  to  the 
end  of  the  world.7  But  He  works  by  means ; — and  those 
who,  on  this  plea,  make  light  of  sober  foresight,  and  wise 
precautions,  run  counter  to  the  whole  course  of  Divine  Pro- 

l  IThess.  v.  21. 

~  See  note  H,  Appendix.  3  1  Cor  xiv.  40. 

4  1  Cor.  xiv.  26.    Also  xi.  16,  34.    Titus  i.  5.    See  also  Article  xxxiv. 

5  Acts  xv.  5 — 29.     See  also  Matt,  xviii.  17.    Ilcb.  xiii.  17. 

6  Titus  i.  10,  11;  iii.  10.  7   Matt,  xxviii.  20. 


LIMIT    OF    AUTHORITY.  21 

violence,  and  Scripture  teaching ;  and  set  up  for  themselves 
an  idol  of  Confusion  and  absolute  Fate,  in  the  place  of  the 
God  of  Order,  Wisdom,  Peace,  and  Love.1 

If  it  be  asked  how  far  this  authority  extends  ;  we  answer, 
as  far  as  is  consistent  with  the  free  exercise  of  an  enlightened 
conscience,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Word  of  God.  This 
answer  may  not  be  distinct  enough  to  satisfy  those  who  put 
the  question ;  but  we  do  not  feel  that  we  are  warranted  by 
.Scripture  in  going  beyond  this  general  statement.  It  has 
not  so  much  laid  down  rules,  as  furnished  us  with  principles, 
which  we  are  ourselves  to  apply  as  occasion  arises ;  and 
which  are  found  sufficient,  in  most  cases,  when  diligently 
and  prayerfully  considered,  to  direct  the  conduct  of  the 
humble  and  sincere  inquirer  after  truth.  Such  an  one  will 
be  inclined  to  distrust  his  own  judgment ;  and  this  habit  of 
self-renunciation,  combined  with  a  deep  and  simple  reve- 
rence for  every  dictate  of  inspiration,  will  prove  his  best  se- 
curity against  error. 

That  a  measure  of  submission  to  lawful  authority  is  re- 
quired of  us,  even  in  spiritual  matters,  will  scarcely  be  denied 
by  any,  who  admit  the  conduct  of  our  blessed  Lord  to  be  an 
example  for  our  imitation.2  We  know  that  He  acknow- 
ledged the  authority  of  the  Scribes,  as  "  sitting  in  Moses' 
seat,"  3  and  directed  his  disciples  to  observe  their  instructions, 
as  far  as  they  were  in  •  consistence  with  the  written  word  of 
God.  He  himself  frequented  the  synagogue  services,4  and 
conformed  to  the  human  institutions  of  the  Jewish  worship 
in  things  indifferent;  such  as  the  observation  of  the  "  Feast 
of  the  Dedication."  5  Should  not  we,  then,  fear,  lest  in  for- 
saking  the   "  customs" 6  and   established  worship    of  our 

i  1  Cor.  xiv.  33.  2  John  xiii.  15.  3  Matt,  xxiii.  2,  3. 

4  Luke  iv.  1G.  J  John  x.  22,  23. 

6  1  Cor.  xi.  16.  Comp.  v  2,  margin,  which  teaches  us  that  there  may 
be  "traditions"  of  order  and  usages  in  a  Church,  which,  for  the  sake  of 
peace  and  due  subordination,  a  right-minded  Christian  will  conscientiously 
observe.  The  apostle  Paul,  a  fearless  advocate  of  the  rights  of  conscience, 
invariably  maintained  and  exemplified  the  duty  of  obedience  to  the 
lawful  authority  both  of  temporal  and  spiritual  powers.  See  Acts  xxiii.  5. 
Rom.  xiii.  1,  2. 


22  DUTY    OF    SUBMISSION. 

Church,  we  make  a  breach  in  that  order,  which  God  has 
appointed  for  our  good,  and  so  bring  loss  upon  our  own 
souls  ? 

In  thus  maintaining  the  duty  of  a  limited  obedience  to  the 
authority  of  the  Church,  we  do  not  wish  to  set  up  a  sacred 
caste,  as  it  were,  in  whose  hands  all  spiritual  gifts  are  sup- 
posed to  be  vested.  On  the  contrary,  we  believe  that  such 
an  opinion  is  opposed  to  the  truth  of  the  Gospel,  which 
teaches  us  that  all  the  Lord's  believing  people  are  "  made 
kings  and  priests  unto  God,"  '  to  "  offer  up  spiritual  sacri- 
fices, acceptable  to  God  by  Jesus  Christ."  2  But  if  He  has 
appointed  an  order  in  His  Church,3  and  has  given  to  some 
of  His  servants  a  commission  of  "  ministering  the  Gospel 
of  God," 4  which  He  has  not  given  to  all,  let  us  beware,  lest 
in  putting  our  hand  unbidden  to  the  ark,5  and  venturing  to 
intrude  beyond  our  sphere  in  meddling  with  sacred  things, 
we  provoke  the  Divine  displeasure,  and  in  the  end  "  be  found 
to  have  been  fighting  against  God." 6 

That  there  may  be  errors  and  corruptions  in  a  Church, 
which  will  require  us  to  separate  from  its  communion,  our 
Church  allows.7  From  Babylon  God's  people  are  called  to 
"  Come  out,  that  they  be  not  partakers  of  her  sins,  and  that 
they  receive  not  of  her  plagues."  8  But  let  us  beware  of 
hasty,  presumptuous,  and  unwarrantable  separation.  That 
it  is  not  every  corruption  and  abuse  which  will  authorize 
this  extreme  step,  we  may  certainly  conclude  from  the  ex- 
amples of  the  Church  of  Corinth,  and  the  Seven  Churches 

l  Rev.  i.  6.  2  1  Peter  ii.  5. 

3  1  Cor.  xii.  28.    Comp.  also  John  xx.  21.    Matt,  xxviii.  18—20. 

"*  Rom.  XV.  1G.  \tirovpyov  \r}crov  Kpiorou  Upovpyovvra  to  evayycXwv* 
This  language  is  worthy  of  notice,  as  attributing  a  mystical  and  spiritual 
priesthood  to  the  ministry  of  the  gospel,  contrary  to  the  notions  of  many 
at  the  present  day,  and  yet  quite  distinct  from  the  Popish  idea  of  a 
sacrificial  priest.  s  2  Sam.  vi.  6,  7 

6   Acts  v.  39.  7  Horn,  xxviii.  2. 

8  Rev.  xviii.  A  friend  remarks  upon  this  place — '•  Very  remarkable — a 
plain  command  to  separate  from  Babylon,  but  none  from  Thyalira,  where 
very  corrupt  principles  and  practice  seem  to  have  been  even  allowed ;  only 
the  fundamentals  adhered  to,  probably,  in  the  standards  of  the  Church." 
c.omp.  Rev.  ii.  20,  21,  with  24,  25. 


UNWARRANTABLE  SEPARATION.  23 

of  Asia.  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  divicfc  Christ's  Church  into 
parties,  and  to  separate  ourselves  from  its  unity.1  God  has 
been  pleased  to  make  Christianity  a  social  thing,  so  that  the 
bestowment  of  its  blessings  is,  to  a  great  degree,  though  not 
wholly,  restricted  to  those  who  are  walking  in  the  brotherly 
fellowship  of  Prayer  and  Sacraments.2  And  shall  we,  then, 
profanely  and  rudely  break  down  the  inclosing  walls  which 
He  has  erected  around  his  Church,  not  more  to  separate  it 
from  the  world,  than  to  bind  its  members  together  in  one 
indissoluble  union  1 3  It  is  when  the  Church  is  most  united, 
that  it  will  most  prosper.4  This  was  the  purport  of  Christ's 
prayer,  and  the  fulfilment  of  it  will  be  the  signal  of  the 
world's  conversion.5  Yet  we  dare  not,  on  the  other  hand, 
confine  this  unity  to  our  own  communion.  We  only  assert 
general  principles,  and  leave  the  application  of  them  to  the 
Divine  Spirit's  teaching,  and  the  judgment  of  individual  con- 
sciences. 

Again,  we  must  observe  that  it  is  not  the  corruption  of  a 
part, — not  even  the  larger  part  of  the  members  of  a  Church, 
which  retains  the  essential  truths  of  the  Gospel  in  its  autho- 
rized standards,  that  can  prevent  the  remaining  pure  and 
living  members  from  enjoying  free  and  refreshing  com- 
munion with  their  living  Head.  If  the  unworthiness  of 
ministers  does  not  hinder  the  efficacy  of  the  pure  Word  and 
Sacraments,  which  contract  no  real  defilement  from  the 
impurity  of  the  channel  through  which  they  flow  ;6  so  neither 


i  Rom.  xvi.  17.  2  Thess.  iii.  6.  Jude  19.  Comp.  1  Cor.  i.  10—13.  "  Where 
the  word  of  God  is  heard  with  reverence,  and  the  sacraments  are  not 
neglected,  there  we  discover,  while  that  is  the  case,  an  appearance  of  the 
church  which  is  liable  to  no  suspicion  or  uncertainty,  of  which  no  one 
can  safely  despise  the  authority,  or  reject  the  admonitions,  or  resist  the 
counsels,  or  slight  the  censures,  much  less  separate  from  it,  and  break  up 
its  unity." — Calvin's  Inst.  b.  iv.  c.  1.     See  Appendix  I. 

2  1  John  i.  7.    See  Calvin  on  Acts  ii.  47. 

3  Cant.  iv.  12.     Eph.  iv.  1—6,  15,  16.     1  John  v.  19. 

4  Psalm  cxxii.  3—9;  cxxxiii.  1—3.  Acts  ii.  42—47;  iv.  32—35;  v. 
12—14.  5  John  xvii.  20—23. 

o  Article  xxvi.    Titus  i.  5. 


24  PRIVILEGES    OF    THE    l.UTIIFtL. 

does  the  low  state  of  religion  in  a  Church,  (though  it  must 
sensibly  affect  the  peace  and  comfort  of  the  believer,)  raise 
any  barrier  in  the  way  of  intimate  communion  between  the 
renewed  soul  and  its  reconciled  God.  Through  ages  of 
darkness  the  Church  still  holds  her  privileges  in  reserve  for 
her  spiritual  children,  neither  lost  nor  impaired  by  the 
degeneracy  of  their  unworthy  brethren.  As  it  has  been 
eloquently  and  beautifully  expressed  : — "  The  Tree  of  Life 
does  not  wither  in  the  Paradise  of  God,  because  the  sinner 
cannot  lawfully  gather  its  fruits ;  the  sins  and  errors  of  a 
thousand  years  cannot  defeat  the  settlement  of  Christ,  as 
long  as  the  subject  of  the  bequest  exists  under  the  rightful 
conditions  to  claim  it.  Individual  guilt,  though  it  tainted 
every  member,  cannot  annul  prerogatives  promised  in  per- 
petuity to  a  constitution  :  they  "  are  not  dead,  but  sleep  ;" 
and  though  the  blessings  appropriated  to  the  Church  lay 
dormant  for  centuries,  they  start  into  vitality  fresh  and 
genuine  as  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  the  instant  that  the 
prayer  of  faith  makes  them  its  own."  ' 

In  conclusion,  how  thankful  should  we  be  for  the  scrip- 
tural code  of  doctrine,  the  well-ordered  plan  of  ecclesiastical 
government,  and  the  "form  of  sound  words,"2  with  which 
our  Church  has  furnished  us;  and  which  we  should  learn 
how  to  value  in  this  unsettled  and  stormy  age !  May  it  be 
more  and  more  freed  from  those  imperfections,  which  hinder 
its  successful  operations,  and  clog  its  movements  ;  and  may 
we  be  found  in  the  day  of  trial,  its  humble  and  faithful,  as 
well  as  enlightened  and  conscientious  adherents!  While 
we  "  prove  all  things,  let  us  hold  fast  that  which  is  good  ;"  3 
and  become  daily  more  steadfastly  attached  to  the  religion 
which  we  profess,  and  the  Church  to  which  we  belong ! 
May  our  attachment  be  based  not  upon  blind  prejudice,  but 
upon  sound  principle:  so  that  we  may  be  able  to  state  the 
scriptual  grounds  of  that  preference  which  we  entertain  for 

i  Sermon  on  Church  Education  in  Ireland,  by  the  Rev.  W.  A.  Butler, 
p.  27,  28. 

2  2  Tim.  i.  13.  3  1  Thess.  v.  21. 


APPLICATION.  25 

her  order  and  worship,  "  to  every  one  that  asketh  a  rea- 
son "  '  of  our  regard. 

Above  all,  let  us  give  more  earnest  heed  to  the  saving 
truths  which  our  Church  teaches,  and  treasure  them  up  in 
our  hearts  ;  that  we  may  be  truly  living  members  of  Christ's 
Church,  and  be  kept  sound  in  the  faith,  holy  in  spirit,  and 
exemplary  in  life  ? 

l  1  Peter  iii.  1. 


APPENDIX. 


A.     [page  15.] 

1.  "The  Church,"  fi  tKK\rt<ria,  originally  means  an  assembly  of  any 
kind,  and  was  the  well  known  classical  name  for  the  assembly 
of  the  people  of  Athens,  summoned  by  the  Magistrates,  for  the 
discussion  and  transaction  of  public  business.  It  is  used  in  this 
primary  signification  in  Acts  xix.  32,  41.  The  derivation  implies 
that  they  were  "  called  out"  but  the  common  use  of  the  word 
shows  that  a  general,  not  a  select  assembly  was  intended. 

2.  It  signifies  a  congregation  of  God's  people,  and  answers,  in 
the  LXX,  to  the  Hebrew  *?nr>,  which  denotes  a  public  meeting, 

TT  1  o 

and  to  my  which  means  a  set  assembly,  regularly  held,  for 
some  special  purpose,  at  an  appointed  time  and  place,  and  under 
due  authority.  (Leigh's  "  Critica  Sacra.")  So  it  is  used  in  Matt. 
xviii.  17;  Acts  xv.  22  ;  and,  in  this  sense,  it  is  the  usual  title  of 
the  congregation  of  the  children  of  Israel ;  as  Acts  vii.  38. 

3.  It  signifies  a  Society  of  Christians,  in  one  place  or  neigh- 
bourhood; as  in  1  Cor.  i.  2;  1  Thess.  i.  1,  &c.  Hence,  diminu- 
tively, the  faithful  in  one  family ,-  as  Rom.  xvi.  15;  1  Cor.  xvi.  19. 

4.  Collectively,  it  is  applied  to  Christian  professors  generally ; 
as  in  1  Cor.  x.  32. 

5.  Lastly,  to  the  whole  of  the  true  Church,  the  spouse  of  Christ, 
as  Eph.  v.  25,  27. 

Stephens,  in  his  Greek  Thesaurus,  says  ;  "  The  Holy  Spirit  has 
been  pleased  to  call  by  this  name  the  universal  assembly,  called 
out  to  eternal  life,  which  professes  the  true  religion  of  Christ ;  in 
which  signification  the  appellation  Ka8o\nc?i,  (Catholic  or  uni- 
versal,) is  sometimes  added,  (not,  however,  in  Scripture.  "  But 
sometimes  particular  assemblies,  into  which  that  universal  one 

26 


APrENDix.  27 

is  distributed,  are  understood  by  this  name,  as  "the  Church  at 
Corinth,"  "  the  Church  of  the  Thessalonians,"  "  the  Church  of 
Ephesus."  And  at  length  the  name  "  Church  "  began  to  be  used 
for  the  place  in  which  the  congregation  of  God's  people  meet 
for  Divine  worship :  as  "  concio,"  in  Latin,  for  the  place  where 
the  assembly  is  collected."  In  this  last  sense  some  explain  the 
word  in  1  Cor.  xi.  18,  22. 

B.     [page  15.] 

The  definitions  of  a  Church  vary  in  form,  but  agree  in  sub- 
stance, with  the  text,  and  with  each  other.  The  xixth  Article 
gives  only  two  marks  of  a  true  Church . — "preaching  the  pure 
Word  of  God,"  and  "  the  due  administration  of  the  Sacraments, 
according  to  Christ's  ordinance  in  all  those  things  that  are  of 
necessity  requisite." 

In  the  xxviiith  Homily,  three  are  mentioned  ;  "pure  and  sound 
doctrine, — the  Sacraments  ministered  according  to  Christ's  holy 
institution, — and  the  right  use  of  Ecclesiastical  discipline."  This 
definition  is  much  more  stringent  than  the  former,  and  is  obvi- 
ously intended  to  exclude  the  corrupt  Church  of  Rome,  to  which 
purpose  it  is  applied.  But,  in  truth,  it  is  too  rigid  in  the  third 
clause,  for  our  own  Church.  Dean  Nowell,  more  cautious,  gives 
three  chief  and  necessary  marks ; — "  Preaching  the  Gospel,  Prayer, 
and  pure  administration  of  the  Sacraments  ,•"  besides  two  others, 
less  essential,  indeed,  but  still  highly  important: — "a  regular 
order  of  Church  Government  and  Ecclesiastical  discipline."  But, 
he  judiciously  observes,  that  the  latter  had  become  almost  im- 
practicable in  his  day,  through  the  general  corruption  of  man- 
ners, and  dislike  of  restraint  and  correction,  especially  among  the 
rich  and  sreat.     Is  it  less  so  in  our  own  1 


C.     [page  15.] 

"The  Church  is  universal  throughout  the  whole  world,  where- 
soever the  Gospel  of  God,  and  the  Sacraments  be."  "  Where- 
soever the  substance  of  the  Word  and  the  Sacraments  remaineth, 
there  is  the  holy  Church,  although  Antichrist  there  reign."  {Luther 
on  Galatians,  i.  2  ) 

"  God  in  Popery  preserved  Baptism  to  be  a  testimony  of  the 
covenant."  {Calvin's  Institutes,  B.  iv.  ch.  1.) 


28  APPENDIX. 

D.  [rAt;E  15.] 

"  Because  the  only  object  which  separateth  our's  from  other 
religions  is  Jesus  Christ,  ia  whom  none  but  the  Church  doth 
believe,  and  whom  none  but  the  Church  doth  worship,  we  find 
accordingly  the  Apostles  do  every  where  distinguish  hereby  the 
Church  from  infidels  and  from  Jews,  accounting  "  them  which  call 
upon  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  be  his  Church." — 
(Hooker,  Eccles.  Pol.  v.  68,  [6].) 

E.  [page  16.] 

"  There  is  not  the  least  contention  and  variance,  but  it  blemish- 
efh  somewhat  the  unity  that  ought  to  be  in  the  Church  of  Christ, 
which  notwithstanding,  may  have  not  only  without  offence  or 
breach  of  concord  her  manifold  varieties  in  rites  and  ceremonies 
of  religion,  but  also  her  strifes  and  contentions  many  times,  and 
that  about  matters  of  no  small  importance,  yea,  her  schisms, 
factions,  and  such  other  evils  whereunto  the  body  of  the  Church 
is  subject,  sound  and  sick  remaining  both  of  the  same  body,  as 
long  as  both  parts  retain  by  outward  profession  that  vital  sub- 
stance of  truth  which  maketh  Christian  religion  to  differ  from 
theirs  which  acknowledge  not  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  blessed 
Saviour  of  mankind,  give  no  credit  to  his  glorious  Gospel,  and 
have  his  Sacraments,  the  seals  of  eternal  life,  in  derision.  What 
side  soever  it  be  that  hath  the  truth,  the  same  we  must  also 
acknowledge  alone  to  hold  with  the  true  Church  in  that  point,  and 
consequently  reject  the  other  as  an  enemy  in  that  case  fallen  away 
from  the  true  Church"  (Hooker,  Eccl.  Pol.  v.  68  (6).)  See  also 
ni.  1.  (7,  8.) 

"  When  we  acknowledge  that  any  society  is  a  true  Church,  we 
ought  to  be  supposed  to  mean  no  other,  than  that  the  covenant  of 
grace,  in  its  essential  constituent  parts,  is  preserved  entire  in 
that  body ;  and  not  that  it  is  true  in  all  its  doctrines  and  decisions." 
(Bishop  Burnet  on  Article  xix.  p.  274.) 

F.  [page  16.] 

"That  Church  of  Christ,  which  we  properly  term  his  body 
mystical  can  be  but  one  ;  neither  can  that  one  be  sensibly  dis- 
cerned by  any  man,  inasmuch  as  the  parts  thereof  are  some  in 
heaven  already  with  Christ,  and  the  rest  that  are  on  earth  (albeit 
their  natural  persons  be  visible)  we  do  not  discern  under  this 
property,  whereby  they  are  truly  and  infallibly  of  that  body." 
(Hooker,  Eccl.  Pol.  iii.  1,  (2).) 


APPENDIX.  29 

G.     [page  17.] 

Thus  also  Nowell's  Catechism,  p.  68  : — 

"  Q.  Are  not  then  all  they  that  be  in  this  visible  Church,  of  the 
number  of  the  elect  to  everlasting  life  1 — A.  Many,  by  hypocrisy 
and  counterfeiting  of  godliness,  do  join  themselves  to  this  fellow- 
ship, which  are  nothing  less  than  true  members  of  the  Church. 
But,  forasmuch  as  wheresoever  the  word  of  God  is  sincerely 
taught,  and  his  sacraments  rightly  administered,  there  are  ever 
some  appointed  to  salvation  by  Christ,  we  count  all  that  whole 
company  to  be  the  Church  of  God,  seeing  that  Christ  also  pro- 
miseth  that  himself  will  be  present  with  two  or  three  that  are 
gathered  together  in  his  name." — See  Hooker,  Eccl.  Pol.  B.  iii.  1. 
(8  ;)  v.  68.  (6.) 

H.     [page  20.] 

"  This  is  only  an  authority  of  order,  for  the  maintaining  of 
union  and  edification.  And  in  this  a  body  does  no  more  as  it  is 
a  body,  than  what  every  single  individual  has  a  right  to  do  for 
himself.  He  examines  a  doctrine  that  is  laid  before  him ;  he 
forms  his  own  opinion  upon  it:  and,  pursuant  to  that,  he  must 
judge  with  whom  he  can  hold  communion,  and  from  whom  he 
must  separate."    (Bp.  Burnet,  on  Art.  xx.) 

I.     [page  23.] 

On  the  subject  of  separation  to  avoid  communion  with  corrupt 
members,  Calvin  judiciously  remarks  ; — "  It  is  one  thing  to  avoid 
the  company  of  the  wicked,  and  another  thing  to  forsake  the 
communion  of  the  Church  through  hatred  of  evil  men.  Paul 
exhorts  them  that  come  to  the  Lord's  table,  to  examine  every  man 
himself,  not  another,  or  the  whole  Church.  He  which  eateth  un- 
worthily, eateth  damnation  to  himself,  and  not  to  others."  Instit. 
B.  iv.  c.  i.,  where  see  much  valuable  argument  to  the  same, 
purpose.       ^ 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  HOOK  OF  COMMON  PRAYER. 

Preaching  may  perhaps  be  justly  considered  the  chief  en- 
gagement of  a  minister  of  the  gospel ;  as  it  is  the  principal 
means  employed  by  God  in  the  conversion  of  sinners,  and 
the  edification  of  his  Church.  But  Prayer  is  the  chief  exer- 
cise of  the  renewed  soul,—"  the  first  thing  wherewith  a 
righteous  life  beginneth,  and  the  last  wherewith  it  doth 
end  ;"  ' — and  it  may  therefore  claim  a  most  prominent  part 
in  public  worship. 

Prayer  may  be  regarded  either  as  private,  or  public  ;  of 
the  latter  only  we  are  now  called  to  treat.  Public  or  com- 
mon prayer 2  is  that  worship  of  God,  in  which  several  per- 
sons unite  together  in  offering  up  the  same  addresses  to  the 
Lord,  either  with  united  voices,  or  through  a  single  indi- 
vidual acting  as  their  common  representative.  The  Protes- 
tant Episcopal  Church  has  adopted  each  of  these  methods 
alternately,  and  this  variety  gives  a  peculiar  interest  and 
beauty  to  her  services.  In  thus  representing  the  congrega- 
tion, the  minister  may  either  use  a  form  of  prayer,  or  may 
pray  extemporaneously.  Some  Churches  have  adopted  the 
latter  mode ;  and,  undoubtedly,  it  has  its  peculiar  advan- 
tages, though  more  adapted  for  private  devotion.  But  our 
Church  has,  we  think,  wisely  preferred  the  former,  as  pos- 

i  Hooker,  Eccles.  Pol.  v.  23. 

~  The  term  Common  Prayer  is  as  old  as  Justin  Martyr,  A.  D.  143;  who, 
speaking  of  the  manner  of  receiving  a  newly-baptized  person  into  the 
Church,  says, — "They  make  Common  Prayers."  (Apol.  i.  85.)  Whether 
tills  was  done  by  a  form  of  Prayer,  or  not,  (a  question  not  easily  decided.) 
the  method  was  previously  agreed  upon,  and  closely  resembled  that  which 
we  now  use.  Cyprian  also  speaks  of  "Public  and  Common  Prayer," 
(Pe  Orat.  Dom.)    See  also  Ignat.  Ep.  ad  Magnes. 

(  30  J 


FORMS    OF    PRAYER    SCRIPTURAL.  31 

sessiog  a  decided  superiority  in  many  inspects,  when  fairly 
tried,  on  an  extensive  scale.1  This  subject,  therefore,  will 
now  demand  our  more  particular  attention.2 

The  use  of  forms  in  public  worship  may  be  traced  up  to 
the  earliest  times.  The  first  example  that  we  find  in  the 
Old  Testament,  is  the  song  of  Moses  and  the  children  of 
Israel  upon  the  overthrow  of  Pharaoh  and  his  host  in  the 
Red  Sea.3  The  High  Priest  used  a  precomposed  form  in 
blessing  the  people.  "  The  Lord  bless  thee,  and  keep  thee, 
&c." 4  Moses  also  prayed  by  a  set  form  at  the  setting  for- 
ward of  the  ark,  and  at  its  setting  down  again.5  Many  of 
David's  Psalms  were  written  expressly  for  the  service  of  the 
sanctuary ;  and  Solomon,  at  the  dedication  of  the  temple, 
"  used  the  very  form  which  his  father  David  had  penned."  G 
Indeed  the  synagogue-worship  of  the  Jews,  which  our  Lord 
sanctioned  by  his  attendance,  was  mainly  made  up  of  the 
use  of  such  forms.7 


1  One  exception  may  perhaps  be  made  with  advantage.  The  Bishops, 
at  the  Savoy  Conference,  stated  "  That  custom  allowed  the  use  of  extempore 
prayer  before  sermon." — Bishop  Short's  Church  History,  Vol.  ii.  p.  227. 
See  also  Bishop  Hall's  Works,  Vol.  ix.  pp.  654, 762.  Pratt's  Ed.  1808.  See 
Cardwell's  "History  of  Conferences,"  pages  337,  371. 

2  See  Appendix  A 

3  Exod.  xv.  1— 51.  If  it  be  objected  that  this  is  a  form  of  Praise, 
which  Dissenters,  and  other  opponents  of  our  Liturgical  forms  freely  use 
in  Public  Worship;  we  may  reply  in  the  following  lines: 

"  Crito  freely  will  rehearse 
Forms  of  prayer  and  praise  in  verse : 
Why  should  Crito  then  suppose 
Forms  are  sinful  when  in  prose  ? 
Must  my  form  be  deemed  a  crime 
Merely  from  the  want  of  rhyme  ?" 

Rev.  J.  Newton's  Apologia:  i. 

4  Numb.  vi.  23—27.  5  lb.  x.  35,  36.  Comp.  Psalm  lviii.  1. 

t>  Psalm  exxxii.  8 — 10.  Comp.  2  Chron.  vi.  41,  42.  Gurnall  remarks 
upon  this  subject.  "If  it  had  been  of  such  dangerous  consequence  to  have 
prayed  by  a  set  form,  as  to  make  our  prayers  abominable,  would  God 
have  omitted  to  warn  his  people  of  it,  especially  when  he  foresaw  that 
his  Churches  generally  in  their  assemblies,  would  make  use  of  them  for 
1300  or  1400  years?" — Christian  Armour.  Eph.  vi.  18.  c.  43.  See  also 
Hooker  :  Eccl.  Pol.  v.  26. 

7  See  the  proofs  in  Wheatly,  p.  3. 


32  THE  BOOK  OF  COMMON  PRAYER. 

But  why  need  we  refer  to  the  usage  of  God's  ancient  peo- 
ple, when  our  blessed  Lord  himself  has  given  us  a  form  of 
prayer ;  ' — which  if  we  are  not  bound  to  use  upon  all  occa- 
sions, should,  at  least,  be  sufficient  to  satisfy  us  respecting 
the  lawfulness  and  propriety  of  such  a  mode  of  worship'?2 

Hence  we  find  that,  although  the  saints  of  God  have  not 
been  limited  to  the  use  of  forms  in  their  addresses  to  the 
throne  of  grace,  yet  they  have  freely  adopted  this  mode  of 
private  devotion,  and  generally  preferred  thus  to  embody 
their  feelings  in  public  worship.  The  testimony  of  our  own 
learned  and  pious  advocate  Hooker,  on  this  head,  is  worthy 
of  consideration.  "  No  doubt,  from  God  it  hath  proceeded, 
and  by  us  it  must  be  acknowledged  a  work  of  singular  care 
and  providence,  that  the  Church  hath  ever  held  a  prescript 
form  of  common  prayer,  although  not  in  all  things  everywhere 
the  same,  yet  for  the  most  part  retaining  still  the  same  an- 
alogy. So  that  if  the  Liturgies  of  all  ancient  Churches 
throughout  the  world  be  compared  amongst  themselves,  it 
may  be  easily  perceived  they  had  all  one  original  mould, 
and  that  the  public  prayer  of  the  people  of  God  in  Churches 
thoroughly  settled,  did  never  use  to  be  voluntary  dictates, 
proceeding  from  any  men's  extempore  wit."  3 

Before  the  Reformation,  different  Latin  service-books  were 
used  in  England,  called  the  uses  or  orders  of  Salisbury, 
Hereford,  Bangor,  &c.4  These  were  full  of  superstitious 
innovations,-  such  as  prayers  for  the  dead,  invocation  of 
saints  and  angels,  worship  of  the  virgin  Mary,  and  the  idola- 
try of  the  mass. 

When,  therefore,  our  reformers  had  laid  the  foundation 
of  true  religion,  by  the  translation  of  the  holy  scriptures  into 

i   Matt.  vi.  9—13.    Luke  xi.  i.  4. 

2  For  other  Scriptural  examples,  see  Deut.  xxvi.  5 — 10,  13 — 15.  1  Chron. 
xvi.  7 — 36,  41.  Comparing  Psalm  cv.  cvi.  Also  2  Chron.  v.  13;  vii.  3; 
xx.  21.  Ezra  iii.  11.  with  Psalm  exxxvi.  See  also  2  Chron.  xxix.  30. 
Joel  ii.  17.  3  Eccl,  Pol.  v.  25  (4)    Appendix  B. 

4  See  the  Preface  to  the  Prayer  Book,  "  Concerning  the  Service  of  the 
Church." 


PEAYER    BOOK    NOT    POPISH.  33 

the  English  tongue ; ' — their  first  care  was  to  provide  the 
people  with  a  reformed  Liturgy  in  English :  in  which  work 
"  they  resolved  to  change  nothing  merely  in  opposition  to 
received  practices," 2  but  to  adhere  as  closely  as  possible  to 
the  doctrine  of  Christ,  and  the  examples  of  the  primitive 
Church.  This  important  task  was .  entrusted  to  a  commit- 
tee, consisting  of  the  most  learned  bishops  and  divines,  under 
the  superintendence  of  Archbishop  Cranmer  ;  and  was  ac- 
complished by  them  in  the  year  1548.3  This  great  work 
afterwards  underwent  some  important  changes,  chiefly  at  the 
suggestion  of  Martin  Bucer  and  Peter  Martyr,  two  foreign 
divines  of  reputation  for  learning  and  piety ;  and  was  repub- 
lished in  1551,  as  "King  Edward's  Second  Book,"  under 
the  highest  sanction  of  the  Church,  and  with  the  authority 
of  parliament. 

Having  been  interdicted  in  the  reign  of  Mary,  it  was  re- 
stored by  Queen  Elizabeth,  1559,  with  some  slight  altera- 
tions, at  the  recommendation  of  some  of  England's  best 
divines. 4  Thus  it  continued  till  the  accession  of  James  I., 
in  1603  ;  when,  (after  a  conference,  held  at  Hampton  Court, 
between  Archbishop  Whitgift,  assisted  by  other  learned 
Episcopalians, 5  and  some  leading  puritans,)  a  new  edition 
appeared,  enlarged  and  improved.  Having  been  for  a  time 
suppressed,  during  the   unhappy  rebellion,  and  subversion 

i  Wickliffe's  Bible  was  written  in  MSS.  in  13G0.  Tindal's  Testament 
was  printed  in  1526.  Coverdale's  Bible  in  1535.  Matthewe's  in  1537. 
Cranmer's,  1539,  &c,  &e- 

2  Bishop  Burnet's  History  of  the  Reformation,  Abridged.    B.  ii.  1548. 

3  Besides  the  Archbishop,  this  Committee  was  composed  of  Bishops 
Goodrich,  Holbbech,  Day,  Skip,  Thirlby,  and  Ridley,  and  Doctors  May, 
Taylor,  Heynes,  Redmayne,  Cox,  and  Robertson.  See  Wheatley's  Intro- 
duction. 

4  Archbishop  Parker,  Doctors  Cox,  May,  Bill,  Pilkington,  and  Sandys; 
Sir  T.  Smith,  and  Messrs.  Whitehead,  Grindall,  and  Guest.  Dr.  Cardwell 
has  shown  that  these  Divines  did  not  originate  all  the  changes  made  at  this 
time.    "History,"  p.  21. 

5  Bishops  Bancroft,  Matthews,  Bilson,  Babington,  Rudd,  Watson, 
Robinson,  and  Dove;  Doctors  Montague,  Ravis,  Bridges,  Andrewes, 
Overall,  &c.  The  King  himself  was  the  principal  actor  in  this  Conference ; 
the  Archbishop  was  too  infirm  to  take  any  active  part  in  it  Cardwell, 
Hist.  pp.  137—212. 


34  THE  BOOK  OF  COMMON  PRAYER. 

of  the  old  constitution  in  Church  and  State;1  the  English 
Prayer  Book  was  finally  established  by  Charles  II.,  at  his 
restoration,  in  1661,  after  a  similar  meeting  to  the  preceding, 
called  the  Savoy  Conference.  The  various  changes  it  has 
undergone,  though  not  unimportant,  have  still  left  it  essen- 
tially the  same  work  as  it  came  from  the  hands  of  the 
martyrs  and  confessors  of  the  Anglican  Church.2  Such  is 
the  history  of  the  Prayer  Book  ; — let  us  now  consider  some 
objections  brought  against  it. 

First,  it  is  said  to  be  a  remnant  of  Popery,  and  to  retain 
ceremonies  which  have  been  abused  to  superstition.  To 
this  we  answer,  that  our  Prayers  are  much  older  than 
Popery,  having  been  derived,  either  from  Scripture,  or  from 
Primitive  Antiquity.  And  if,  in  some  cases,  they  are  of  a 
later  date,  shall  we  on  that  account  reject  them,  when  they 
breathe  the  purest  spirit  of  evangelical  religion  1  Surely  it 
were  thankless  and  unwise,  to  throw  aside  the  precious 
censor  in  which  has  been  offered  up  the  pious  incense  of 
many  fervent  souls  in  the  midst  of  ages  of  dark  supersti- 
tion T  As  for  the  ceremonies  which  our  Church  has  re- 
tained, they  are  kw,  simple,  and  expressive. 4  We  are  not 
of  "  them  which  think  it  always  imperfect  reformation  that 
doth  but  sliear  and  not  flay"'3  We  prefer  the  sober  judg- 
ment of  Hooker  ; — "  As  far  as  they  (the  Romanists)  follow 
reason  and  truth,  we  fear  not  to  tread  the  self-same  steps 
wherein  they  have  gone,  and  to  be  their  followers.  Where 
Rome  keepeth  that  which  is  ancient  and  better,  others  whom 

l  At  the  execution  of  Archbishop  Laud  in  1644.  "  On  January  3,  1645, 
its  public,  use  was  forbidden  by  the  Parliament;  and  on  August  23,  of  the 
same  year,  its  use  in  private,  under  severe  penalties."     Cardwell,  p.  242. 

-  An  account  of  these  alterations  will  be  found  in  the  remarks  made  on 
the  different  parts  of  the  Liturgy,  in  this  work.  Much  interesting  informa- 
tion respecting  the  various  changes,  and  attempted  reforms  of  the  Prayer 
Book,  will  be  found  in  Dr.  Cardwell's  work 

3  "  We  were  not  like  women  and  children,  when  they  are  affrighted 
with  fire  in  their  clothes:  we  shook  off  the  coal  indeed,  but  not  our  gar- 
ments; lest  we  should  have  exposed  our  Church  to  that  nakedness,  which 
the  excellent  men  of  our  sister  Churches  complained  to  be  among  them- 
selves-"— Bp.  Jer.  Taylor. 

■*  See  Preface  concerning  Ceremonies.  5  Eccl.  Pol.  v.  65. 


FORMS    DO    NOT    HINDER    THE    SFIRIT.  35 

we  much  more  affect,  leaving  it  for  newer  and  changing  it 
for  worse;  we  had  rather, follow  the  perfections  of  them 
whom  we  like  not,  than  in  defects  resemble  them  whom  we 
love."1 

But  to  turn  to  a  more  general  argument,  it  is  frequently 
objected  against  the  use  of  a  form  of  prayer,  that  it  neces- 
sarily tends  to  produce  formality,  which  is  so  strongly  con- 
demned by  our  blessed  Lord  as  "  vain  worship,"  "  drawing 
nigh  unto  God  with  the  mouth,  and  honouring  him  with  the 
lips,  while  the  heart  is  far  from  him." 2  To  this  we  an- 
swer, that  formal  worship  is  indeed  that  "  sacrifice  of  fools," 
of  which  Solomon  speaks,  who  "  consider  not  that  they  do 
evil."  3  But  it  is  not  confined  to  those  who  use  a  form,  but. 
is  the  inseparable  attendant  upon  all  outward  religion, 
which  is  unaccompanied  by  true  piety,  faith,  and  love."  4 
Wherever  the  heart  is  not  right  with  God,  all  pretences  of 
joining  with  his  people,  in  their  acts  of  solemn  worship  and 
service,  can  be  no  better  than  hypocrisy  or  superstition  :  and 
yet  we  have  too  much  reason  to  fear  that  such  is  the  awful 
state  of  the  great  mass  of  nominal  Christians.  But  to 
throw  the  blame  of  so  much  empty  profession  upon  the 
mere  use  of  a  form  of  prayer,  would  be  as  far  from  reason 
and  truth,  as  tb  ascribe  the  barrenness  of  a  rock  to  a  want 
of  rain,  or  the  unfruitfulness  of  a  worthless  tree  to  the  leaves 
with  which  it  is  covered. 

It  has,  indeed,  been  alleged  by  some,  that  a  form  must 
cramp  the  energies  of  the  mind,  and  prevent  that  free  flow 
of  devotional  feeling,  which  ought  to  be  encouraged  by 
those  who  would  draw  near  in  a  "spirit  of  adoption,"5  to 

l  Eccl.  Pol.  v.  28.       2  Matt.  xv.  8,  9.  Mark  vii.  6.  7.       3  Eccles.  v.  1, 

4  "  If  the  words  of  a  form  suit  me,  and  express  the  desires  and  feelings 
of  my  mind,  the  prayer  is  as  much  my  wvn,  as  if  I  had  conceived  it  upon 
the  spot  On  the  other  hand,  if  I  have  the  greatest  readiness  and  fluency 
in  diversifying  expressions,  so  that  my  prayer  should  always  appear  un- 
studied and  new,  yet  if  my  spirit,  or  the  spirit  of  those  who  join  with  me. 
be  not  engaged  in  it,  though  I  may  admire  my  own  performance,  and  be 
applauded  by  others,  it  is  no  better  than  a  mere  lifeless  form,  in  the  sight 
of  Him  who  searcheth  the  heart."    Rev.  J.  Newton's  Apologia :  i. 

5  Rom.  viii.  15-    Gal.  iv.  5,  6. 


36  THE    BOOK    OF    COMMON    PRAYEIi. 

"  pour  out  their  souls  before  God."  '  But,  although  we  know, 
that  through  remissness,  unvvatchfulness,  and  infirmity  of 
the  flesh,  such  may  sometimes  be  the  case ;  we  cannot  allow 
that  the  general  experience  of  pious  worshippers  among 
ourselves  at  all  bears  out  the  above  complaint.  On  the 
contrary,  we  can  humbly  and  thankfully  affirm,  that  never 
have  our  souls  found  nearer  access  to  God,  or  been  more 
animated  by  the  "  spirit  of  grace  and  supplication," 2  than 
in  the  use  of  the  truly  scriptural  services  of  our  Church.3 
Nay,  more  than  this,  many  an  enlightened  Christian  among 
us  can  testify,  that  often,  when  his  heart  has  been  cold  and 
wandering,  and  his  devotion  has  flagged  in  private  prayer, 
the  recurrence  to  one  or  another  of  the  spirit-stirring  peti- 
tions of  our  admirable  Liturgy,  has  awakened  in  his  breast 
a  thrill  of  sacred  feeling,  which  (like  the  strings  of  an 
Eolian  harp  smitten  by  the  wind)  has  rung  sweet  melody 
through  his  soul,  and  revived  all  that  glow  and  fervour  of 
devotion,  which  such  language  is  fitted  to  inspire. 

But,  it  may  be  asked,  does  not  the  use  of  a  form  inter- 
rupt the  gracious  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  when  He 
comes,  according  to  the  promise,  to  "  help  our  infirmities," 
and  teach  us  "•  what  to  pray  for  as  we  ought  ;"4  and  spe- 
cially enabling  us  to  suit  our  petitions  to  the  peculiar  situa- 
tion and  circumstances  in  which  we  are  placed  ?  We  reply, 
that  we  think  not ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  He  works  as 
freely  and  as  truly,  though  not,  perhaps,  so  sensibly,  in  the 
case  of  him  who  uses  a  form,  as  in  that  of  one  who  prays 
extemporaneously  ;  the  effectual  aid  imparted  being'  propor- 

1    1  Sam.  i.  15.  ~  Zech.  xii.  10. 

a  Mr.  Newton  observes,  "  Blessed  be  God,  there  are  many  living  wit- 
nesses, who  can  declare  to  his  praise,  that  a  form  does  not  restrain,  much 
less  preclude  the  exercise  of  grace.  They  know,  and  are  sure  that  their 
Lord  and  Master  owns  and  comforts  them  in  what  their  brethren  hastily 
condemn  them  for." — Apol.  i. 

The  testimony  of  the  eminent  Robert  Hall  is  valuable  on  this  point. 
"  We,  as  Dissenters,  for  the  most  part  use  and  prefer  free  prayer.  But 
God  forbid  we  should  ever  imagine  this  the  only  mode  of  prayer  which  is 
acceptable  to  God.  We  cannot  doubt  that  multitudes  of  devout  persons 
have  used  forms  of  devotion  with  great  and  eminent  advantage." — Works, 
Vol.  v.  p-  292.  4   Rom.  viii.  26. 


ADVANTAGE  OF  STUDYING  A  FORM.         07 

tioned  to  the  grace  which  is  called  into  exercise,  not  to  the 
number  or  fluency  of  the  words  employed  in  expressing  it. 
The  gift  of  prayer,  which,  like  any  other  spiritual  gift,  is 
capable  of  improvement  by  cultivation,  may  be  less  fre- 
quently called  out  in  the  one  case  than  in  the  other  ;  although 
there  are  not  wanting  suitable  opportunities  for  its  exercise, 
either  by  the  ministers  or  members  of  our  Church.  But 
the  grace  of  Prayer  is  wholly  irrespective  of  gifts,  and  far 
more  valuable  than  any ;  and  is  within  the  reach  of  those 
"  little  ones  "  of  Christ's  flock,  who  occupy  the  lowest  place 
in  mental  attainments. 

The  truth  is,  that  the  Spirit  of  God  is  not  to  be  confined 
to  human  channels ;  and  yet  he  is  pleased  to  work  ordi- 
narily by  the  most  fitting  instruments.  If,  then,  we  suppose 
a  minister  to  be  so  highly  gifted  with  the  spirit  of  utterance, 
wisdom,  and  knowledge,  as  to  be  able  to  compose  extempo- 
raneously a  prayer,  or  a  series  of  prayers,  as  holy,  as 
becoming,  as  fervent,  and  as  reverent  as  our  Church  ser- 
vices ;  having,  besides,  the  advantage  of  being  able  to  suit 
his  words  to  the  present  occasion ;  he  might  no  doubt,  in 
some  instances,  claim  the  palm  of  superiority  over  one  who 
was  confined  to  an  invariable  routine  of  forms,  however 
comprehensive  and  particular,  as  well  as  excellent  and  scrip- 
tural. But  this,  we  know  from  experience  and  observation, 
is  far  from  being  a  common  case.  Few  indeed  are  the 
ministers,  however  "  eloquent  and  mighty  in  the  Scriptures," 
who  can  pray  continuously  in  a  manner  at  all  comparable 
with  our  Liturgy  ;  while  a  very  great  number  are  found  to 
come  short  of  that  standard  of  excellence,  which  is  required 
to  keep  up  the  interest  of  a  congregation  in  this  most  impor- 
tant part  of  public  worship.  If,  then,  we  lose  something  in 
the  use  of  a  form,  from  its  want  of  ready  and  perfect  adapta- 
tion to  present  circumstances  and  emergencies  ;  we  gain 
much  in  the  freedom  which  we  enjoy  from  those  many 
inconveniences,  which  are  apt  to  arise  from  the  changeable 
frames  and  feelings  of  the  minister,  being  communicated 
too  suddenly,  and  (as  it  were)  electrically,  to  the  whole 
body  of  the  people  ;   now  exciting,  then   depressing  them, 


38  THE  BOOK  OF  COMMON  PRAYER. 

and  not  unfrequently  producing  a  shock  of  surprise  and 
bewildered  sensation,  which  must  be  felt  to  be  conceived.1 

But  this  is  not  all.  We  possess  another  very  important 
advantage  in  the  use  of  a  Form,  from  the  mere  fact  of  its 
being  able  to  be  well  understood  by  those  who  are  called 
upon  to  join  in  it.  Would,  indeed,  that  our  excellent 
Liturgy  were  always  used  with  understanding,  even  by  a 
large  proportion  of  our  congregations!  But  this  ignorance, 
so  deplorable  and  discreditable,  and,  we  fear,  so  common, 
is  entirely  our  own  fault,  not  that  of  the  forms  themselves. 
If  ministers  did  their  duty  in  calling  the  attention  of  the 
people  to  this  important  subject,2  and  were  the  mass  of  pro- 
fessing Episcopalians,  willing  to  be  taught  their  duty  in  this 
respect,  we  are  persuaded  that  the  real  advantages  which 
we  possess  would  soon  become  too  apparent  to  need  any 
further  comment. 

When  a  minister  of  great  gifts,  and  rapid,  fervent  elo- 
quence is  engaged  in  public,  extempore  prayer,  he  is  very 
liable  to  outstrip  the  comprehension  even  of  his  intelligent 
hearers,  much  more  the  devotion  of  his  humbler  audience.3 
But  the  Prayer  Book  is  ever  with  the  untaught  worshipper, 
in  which  he  can  "study  his  prayers,"  day  by  day,  "and 
read  his  duty  in  his  petitions."1  For  the  scriptural  charac- 
ter of  our  Liturgy  gives  it  this  pre-eminent  advantage  ;  that, 
while  it  can  be  made  intelligible  to  a  child,  it  contains  food 
for  the  enlarged  expansion  of  the  most  cultivated  minds : 
while,  at  the  same  time,  it  points  to  so  high  and  just  a  stan- 

1  To  this  we  may  add,  that  the  labouring  recollection,  embarrassed 
manner,  and  hesitating  delivery  of  many  extempore  speakers,  are  very  pre- 
judicial to  public  devotion,  giving  pain  to  one  part  of  a  congregation, 
and  exciting  disgust  and  levity  in  another. 

2  By  means  of  plain  and  practical  Lectures  on  the  Liturgy,  of  which  we 
have  many  excellent  patterns  in  print,  e.  g.  Archbishop  Seeker's  Lectures 
on  the  Catechism,  Walker's  (of  Truro)  on  the  same,  and  Biddulph's  Essays 
on  the  Liturgy. 

3  "  There  is  perhaps  a  manner  of  speaking  in  an  unknown  tongue, 
even  when  the  language  of  our  own  country  is  used;  a  height  of  compo- 
sition, an  abstruseness  of  thought,  an  obscurity  of  phrase,  which  common 
Christians  cannot  understand." — Doddridge  on  1  Cor.  xiv. 

*  Bishop  Jeremy  Taylor. 


BENEFIT    OF    HAVING    THE    LITURGY.  39 

dard  of  Christian  piety,  that  we  may  there  read  "  what 
manner  of  persons  we  ought  to  be  in  all  holy  conversation 
and  godliness."1  The  more  it  is  studied,  we  venture  to 
affirm,  the  more,  by  God's  blessing,  it  will  grow  upon  the 
admiration  and  regard  of  those  who  daily  use  it  as  their 
companion  to  the  mercy-seat. 

If  we  are  forbidden  to  pray  in  public  in  an  unknown 
tongue,  lest  ^  the  understanding  be  unfruitful ;" 2  and  if  wo 
are  directed  to  "  pray  with  the  spirit,  and  with  the  under- 
standing also  :•'.' 3  then  is  it  not  important  for  us  to  become 
previously  well  acquainted  with  the  meaning  of  those  peti- 
tions which  are  offered  up  in  our  hearing ;  that  we  may  not 
only  say  "  Amen  " 4  to  them,  but  may  also  be  able  readily 
to  enlarge  upon  them,  and  ramify  them  in  our  thoughts,  so 
as  to  suit  the  specific  wants  and  exercise  of  our  own  souls.5 

Again,  if  the  Church  of  Christ  is  to  be  "  the  light  of  the 
world,"  as  "  a  city  set  upon  a  hill ;"  G  the  "  pillar  "  to  which 
"  the  Truth  "  is  affixed,  and  "  the  ground  "  7  on  which  it  is 
displayed  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  illumination  of  the 
dark  places  of  the  earth  :  then  is  this  end  apparently  best 
answered  by  a  written  standard  of  truth,  and  form  of  wor- 
ship, which  following  the  models  of  inspiration,  and  in 
great  part  taken  out  of  the  sacred  volume,8  shall  exhibit  to 

i  2  Peter  iii.  11.  2  1  Cor.  xiv.  14. 

3  V.  15.  4  v.  16. 

5  "  If  you  seek  to  join  solemnly  and  earnestly  in  that  daily  Ritual,  so 
far  from  finding  your  increased  familiarity  with  its  words  a  hindrance  to 
your  devotion,  this  will  be  the  greatest  help  to  it.  For  having  to  take  no 
thought  of  the  language,  but  only  of  the  matter  and  object  of  your  prayers, 
you  will  be  able  to  give  yourselves  up  more  entirely  to  the  one  idea,  which 
ought  then  to  possess  your  soul, — that  of  Him  to  whom  you  are  speaking; 
your  desires  will  come  to  flow  naturally  and  undisturbedly  in  the  chan- 
nels here  provided  for  them;  and  the  sense  of  your  different  wants  will 
soon  habitually  arise  to  your  mind,  in  that  form  and  sequence  which  the 
expression  of  them  in  our  Liturgy  suggests." — College  Life,  by  the  Rev. 
T.  Whytehead,  pp.  G3,  64 

r»  Matt.  v.  11.  7    ITim.  iii.  15. 

8  As  the  Psalms,  Lessons,  Hymns,  (two  excepted,)  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
Epistles  and  Gospels,  and  a  great  proportion  of  the  substance,  and  even 
ihe  words  of  the  various  Services. 


40  THE  BOOK  OF  COMMON  PRAYER. 

succeeding  generations  a  true  picture  of  Evangelical  Chris- 
tianity. 

We  see  and  know,  by  long  and  happy  experience,  that 
this  has  been  the  case  with  our  excellent  Liturgy ;  which, 
like  some  curiously  wrought  piece  of  antique  plate,  of  solid 
worth  and  elegant  design,  has  come  down  to  our  times,  a 
precious  heir-loom  from  our  venerated  ancestors.  In  this 
costly  vessel  of  exquisite  workmanship,  the  sacred  treasures 
of  Gospel  truth,  and  the  rich  deposit  of  an  orthodox  Creed, 
have  been  conveyed  unimpaired  to  the  remote  ages  in 
which  we  live.1  The  Prayers  of  our  Church  were  the 
compositions  of  holy  men  of  different  times,  collected  and 
revised  by  the  Fathers  of  the  English  Reformation,  and  en- 
riched by  additions  of  their  own,  not  inferior  in  excellence. 
The  very  circumstances  in  which  this  incomparable  manual 
of  devotion  was  drawn  up  by  those  enlightened  and  devoted 
men,  some  of  whom  afterwards  sealed  with  their  blood  their 
testimony  to  the  truth,  must  greatly  enhance  its  value  in 
the  eyes  of  all  Protestants.2  But,  in  addition  to  this  pe- 
culiar claim  upon  our  veneration  and  regard,  its  own  in- 
trinsic worth  has  justly  earned  the  highest  esteem  and  com- 
mendation of  all  impartial  judges.3 

At  the  fire  which  has  burned  on  this  altar,  age  after  age, 
as  it  passed  by,  has  relumed  its  fading  torch  ;  and  while 
whole  congregations  of  Protestant  orthodox  Dissenters  have 
openly  lapsed  into  heresies  and  blasphemous  doctrines,  the 
Church  of  England,  even  in  the  time  of  her  lowest  depres- 
sion, (alas  !  how  low  she  too  was  permitted  to  fall)  still 
"held  forth  the  word  of  life"4  as  a  beacon-light  to  her 
children,  and  recalled  many  a  wandering  footstep  to  the 
good  old  paths  of  scripture  truth,  and  evangelical  righteous- 

1  The  Creeds  of  the  ancient  Christian  churches  were  considered  the 
"Depositum"  or  Trust  of  the  Church. — Bishop  Burnet's  Introduction  to 
Expos.  Art.    See  2  Tim.  i.  13,  14. 

2  "  Those  reverend  Fathers  and  great  Divines  in  the  days  of  King  Ed- 
ward the  Sixth,  of  whom  some  constantly  suffered  for  the  profession  of 
the  truth;  and  others  were  exiled  in  the  time  of  Queen  Mary." — 
Canon  xxx.  3  See  Appendix  C. 

*  Phil.  ii.  16. 


GUILT    OF    INCONSISTENCY.  41 

ness,  through  simple  faith  in  a  Divine  and  crucified 
Saviour.1 

Nor  must  we  be  surprised  that  even  this  excellent  formu- 
lary has  not  escaped  without  censure ;  nor  do  we  pretend 
that  it  is  entirely  free  from  those  imperfections  which  seem 
to  be  inseparable  from  human  infirmity.  Some  of  the  ob- 
jections which  have  been  raised  against  the  Prayer  Book 
have  been  already  considered,  and  others  will  be  noticed 
in  due  course,  as  the  passages  referred  to,  come  before  us. 
In  general  we  may  remark,  that  to  a  mind  warmed  and 
elevated  by  the  Spirit  which  breathes  throughout  them,  the 
greater  part  of  these  difficulties  will  vanish,  upon  closer 
acquaintance,  as  a  mist  when  the  sun  arises. 

One  more  objection  only,  and  that  of  a  general  character, 
demands  a  brief  consideration :  namely,  that  the  Church 
Prayers  are  full  of  "  vain  repetitions."  2 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  frequent  repetition  of  the 
same  forms,  is  apt  to  cause  weariness  in  light  and  unreflect- 
ing minds.  But  this  is  a  disease  not  to  be  cured  by  indul- 
gence, but  by  severer  means, —  the  "  bitter  herbs  "  of  deep 
repentance,  and  serious  self-examination.  As  to  the  charge 
itself  we  reply,  that  it  is  founded  upon  an  erroneous  inter- 
pretation of  our  Saviour's  words,  who  cautioned  his  dis- 
ciples, not  against  repetitions  in  prayer  generally,  but  against 
"vain"  or  "unmeaning'''  repetitions,  such  as  the  "heathen" 
used  in  their  idolatrous  rites,  and  hypocrites  in  their  formal 
services,  "  thinking  that  they  shall  be  heard  for  their  much 
speaking."3  That  mere  repetition  of  the  same  words  in 
prayer  is  not  sinful,  or  displeasing  to  God,  we  may  be 
assured  both  by  the  instances  we  have  of  such  reiteration 

l  Another  advantage  of  the  Prayer-Book  is,  that  it  "  exemplifies  the 
Communion  of  Saints,  and  assists  that  communion,  by  the  knowledge  that 
so  many  are  surrounding  the  throne  of  grace  together,  and  offering  up  the 
same  prayers." — Dr.  Schmid,  a  Lutheran  Missionary,  at  the  Anniversary 
of  the  Prayer  Book  and  Homily  Society,  1845.  2  Matt.  vi.  7. 

3  fifi  pdTToXoynarire.  Use  not  unmeaning  verbosity,  words  without 
ideas."— Scott.  Comp.  1  Kings  xviii.  26—29.  Acta  xix.  34.  Such  repe- 
titions are  still  in  use  among  both  Jews  and  Papists- 

4* 


42  THE    BOOK    OF    COMMON    JPKAYEK. 

in  the  Psalms  of  David,  intended  for  public  worship,1  and 
also  from  the  example  of  our  Lord  himself;  who,  in  his 
agony,  "  prayed  three  times,  using  the  same,"  or  nearly 
the  same  "  words." 2 

In  conclusion,  we  may  observe  that  it  would  indeed  be 
well,  if  all  who  joined  in  the  scriptural  and  fervent  prayers 
of  our  beloved  Church,  were  truly  alive  to  their  import,  and 
felt  in  their  hearts  the  very  spirit  which  dictated  them. 
"  Not  every  one  that  saith  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven," 3 — was  the  warning  voice  of  our 
Redeemer  to  his  disciples  of  old  ;  and  may  well  be  addressed 
to  many  nominal  Christians  among  ourselves.  Do  not  our 
very  prayers  condemn  us,  while  we  rest  in  a  dead  form, 
without  any  of  the  life  and  power  of  true  Christianity? 

As  the  Lord  said  of  the  Jews,  so  may  we  say  of  the 
members  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  with  reference 
to  their  Public  Services: — "They  have  well  said  all  that 
they  have  spoken.  O  that  there  were  such  a  heart  in  them, 
that  they  would  fear  God,  and  keep  all  his  commandments 
always,  that  it  might  be  well  with  them,  and  with  their 
children  for  ever." 

1  See  Psalm  cvii.  8,  15,  21,  31;  cxxxvi.  used  2  Chron.  xx.  21.    Also 
Solomon's  Prayer,  1  Kings  viii.  32,  34,  36,  &c. 
3  Matt.  xxvi.  39,  42,  44.  3  Matt.  vii.  21.  4  Deut.  v.  28.  29. 


APPENDIX. 


A.  [page  31.] 

FAMILY    PRAYER. 

We  have  said  nothing  of  Family  and  Social  Prayer,  which  seem 
to  be  intermediate  between  Private  and  Public  Worship  ;  and 
may  fairly  be  comprehended  in  the  definition  given  of  the  latter. 
Indeed,  the  Church  Service  is  very  suitable  for  both  these  pur- 
poses, and  has  been  extensively  and  profitably  so  used,  espe- 
cially in  the  way  of  selection.1  But  we  have  no  wish  to  confine 
any  Christians,  who  have  the  gift  of  Prayer,  to  the  use  of  a  form 
on  s  ch  occasions  ;  nor  does  there  appear  any  sufficient  reason 
why  our  authorized  forms  should  be  considered  binding  upon 
Episcopalians,  for  this  object.  Bishop  Hall's  judgment  on  this 
point  is  worthy  of  regard — "  God  is  a  free  Spirit,  and  so  should 
ours  be  in  pouring  out  our  voluntary  devotions,  upon  all  occa- 
sions. Nothing  hinders,  but  that  this  liberty  and  Public  Liturgy 
should  be  good  friends,  and  may  go  hand  in  hand  together." 
And  again,  "  I  do  from  my  soul  honour  both.  I  gladly  make  use 
of  both,  and  praise  God  for  them,  as  the  gracious  exercises  of 
Christian  piety,  and  the  effectual  furtherances  of  salvation. 
There  is  place  enough  for  them  both,  they  need  not  jostle  each 
other."—  Works,  Vol.  ix.  pp.  651,  760. 

B.  [page  32.] 

The  originals  of  our  Church  Services  may  be  traced  back, 
with  more  or  less  clearness,  fulness,  and  particularity,  (dimin- 
ishing,  of   course,   as   we   ascend    higher,   and    possess   more 

i  King  Edward's  Primer,  or  Private  Prayer  for  every  day  in  the  week, 

was  taken  out  of  the  Daily  Service. 

(43) 


44  APPENDIX. 

scanty  materials)  for  fourteen  or  fifteen  hundred  years.  They 
generally  consisted  of  two  portions,  the  latter  of  which,  the 
Comniunion  Office,  was  anciently  called  the  Liturgy.  They  were 
handed  down  "  memoriter,"  till  the  end  of  the  third  century, 
after  which  they  were  committed  to  writing.  The  principal 
Liturgies  are — 

1.  The  Oriental,  ascribed  to  St.  James,  used  at  Jerusalem  and 
Antioch;  older  than  the  council  of  Chalcedon  (a.  d.  451.)  The 
order  and  substance  the  same  in  Justin  Martyr's  time.  Other 
branches  were  that  of  Coesarea,  compiled  by  Basil,  and  that  of 
Constantinople  by  Chrysostom. 

2.  The  Alexandrian,  ascribed  to  St.  Mark,  quoted  by  Origen, 
(a.  d.  220.)  completed  by  Cyril  of  Alexandria,  (a.  d.  412.) 

3.  The  Roman,  completed  by  Gregory  the  Great,  (a.  d.  590,)  but 
derived  from  ancient  sources,  probably  as  far  back  as  the  second 
century  :  with  its  braches,  as  the  Ambrosian  and  African. 

4.  The  Galilean,  used  at  Lyons,  in  Gaul,  and  referred,  through 
Irenseus,  to  St.  John.  This  is  supposed  to  have  had  offsets  in  the 
Mosarabic,  and  Ancient  British. — See  Palmer's  Orig.  Liturg.  vol.  i. 
Walker's  Element.  Liturg.  l 

It  may  be  interesting  to  some  of  our  readers  to  know,  that  the 
Scotch  Kirk  originally  possessed  a  Liturgy,  which  continued  in 
use  till  the  year  1636,  when  Archbishop  Laud's  unhappy  attempts 
to  enforce  his  New  Service  Book,  threw  all  forms  into  disrepute. 
— See  M'Crie's  "Sketches  of  Scottish  Church  History,"  pp.  203, 
204  This  is  probably  the  book  alluded  to  by  Hooker.  (Ecc.  Pol. 
v.  27,)  mentioned  by  Strype,  as  first  printed  in  Latin,  1556,  by  the 
exiles  at  Geneva,  with  Calvin's  approbation,  and  afterwards  trans- 
lated into  English,  and  "  approved  and  received  by  the  Church 
of  Scotland." — See  Note  to  Keble's  edition  of  Hooker. 

The  Wesieyan  Methodists  have  an  abridgement  of  the  Prayer 
Book,  prepared  for  their  use,  by  their  founder,  entitled  "The 
Sunday  Service  of  the  Methodists,  with  other  occasional  ser- 
vices." 

C.     [page  40.] 

Bucer  thus  speaks  of  the  English  Liturgy.  "  In  the  order  of 
the  Communion  and  Daily  Prayers,  I  see  nothing  appointed 
in  the  book  which  is  not  taken  out  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures, 
if  not   in   express  words,  as   the   Psalms   and  Lessons,  yet  hi 

i  The  Liturgies  which  have  come  down  to  us  contain  many  manifest 
corruptions,  and  the  authenticity  of  the  present  text  cannot  be  implicitly- 
depended  upon. — Palmer,  vol-  i.  9 — 12. 


APPENDIX.  45 

sense,  as  are  the  Collects.  Also  the  manner  of  these  Lessons 
and  Prayers,  and  the  times  when  they  are  to  be  used,  are  con- 
stituted very  agreeably  both  with  the  word  of  God,  and  the  obser- 
vation of  the  ancient  churches." — Censura.  c.  i.  in  his  Scrip. 
Anglic,  p.  456. 

John  Wesley  thus  expresses  his  opinion  of  it,  in  the  preface  to 
his  "  Sunday  Service."  "  I  believe  there  is  no  Liturgy  in  the 
world,  either  in  ancient  or  modern  language,  which  breathes 
more  of  solid,  scriptural,  rational  piety,  than  the  Common 
Prayer  of  the  Church  of  England.  And  though  the  main  of  it 
was  compiled  more  than  two  hundred  years  ago,  yet  is  the  lan- 
guage of  it  not  only  pure,  but  strong  and  elegant  in  the  highest 
degree." 

The  eloquent  Baptist  Minister,  Robert  Hall,  says  of  it,  "  The 
evangelical  purity  of  its  sentiments,  the  chastised  fervour  of 
its  devotion,  and  the  majestic  simplicity  of  its  language,  have 
combined  to  place  it  in  the  very  first  rank  of  uninspired  com- 
positions." 


CHAPTER    III. 


THE    DAILY    SERVICE. 


The   first   service  in  our  Prayer  Book  is  "  the  order  for 
daily  Morning  and  Evening  Prayer  T  l 

The  reason  of  a  daily  service  is  founded  upon  the  order 
of  nature,  which  seems  daily  to  present  a  fresh  call  to  ac- 
knowledge God's  providential  mercies — "  They  are  new 
every  morning^ 2  The  ancient  people  of  God  daily  offered 
their  morning  and  evening  sacrifice  : 3  and  while  we  are  so 
far  before  them  in  religious  privileges,  shall  we  come  short 
of  them  in  grateful  and  devout  acknowledgment  ?  If  their 
typical  offerings  were  a  "  sweet  savour"  unto  the  Lord,  so 
that  on  these  occasions  He  promised  to  "  meet  with  the 
children  of  Israel,"  by  a  peculiar  manifestation  of  his 
"  gl°ry  ;"4  how  much  more  assuredly  shall  our  "  spiritual 
sacrifices"  of  prayer  and  praise  be  "  acceptable  to  God" 5 
through  the  atonement  of  Christ  1  David  teaches  us  to  re- 
gard prayer  as  a  daily  service,  when  he  says,  "  Let  my 
prayer  be  set  forth  before  thee  as  incense ;  and  the  lifting  up 
of  my  hands  as  the  evening  sacrifice.'1'' B  Though  driven 
from  the  courts  of  the  Lord,  he  purposed  to  be  as  regular  at 
his  devotional  services,  as  the  Priests  were  in  offering  their 
sacrifices  and  burning  incense  before  Him.     In  like  manner, 

i  Called,  in  the  first  Prayer  Book  of  Edward  VI.  "  Matins,  and  Even- 
song." 

2  Lam.  iii  23. 

3  Exod.  xxix.  38—46.  See  Scott's  Commentary,  and  Calvin  on  Acts 
iii.  1. 

4  Verses  41 — (comp.  Gen.  viii.  21.  Marg.  "savour  of  rest.")  43. 

5  1  Peter  ii.  5. 

6  Psalm  cxli.  2.    See  Scott's  Commentary.    Comp.  lv.  17;  xcii.  1,  2. 

(40) 


REASON    OF    DAILY    rRAYFR.  47 

our  blessed  Lord,  in  the  form  of  prayer  which  He  taught 
his  disciples,  evidently  implied  a  daily  repetition  of  it,  in  the 
words,  "  Giye  us  this  day  our  daily  bread."  l 

Nor  will  it  suffice,  in  all  cases,  to  perform  our  morning 
and  evening  devotions  in  private.  "  No  Christian,"  says 
Bishop  Hall,  "  will  think  it  enough  to  pray  alone." 2  The 
first  disciples  "  continued  daily  with  one  accord  in  the  tern- 
%>le  ,-"  3  doubtless  attending  its  appointed  services,  at  the  ac- 
customed hours  of  prayer.  And  St.  Paul  exhorts  the  He- 
brew Christians  "  not  to  forsake  the  assembling  of  them- 
selves together,"4  in  public  worship,  even  at  a  time  when 
such  meetings  might  expose  them  to  reproach  and  danger 
from  cruel  persecutors.  Thus  we  find  that  the  Primitive 
Church  regularly  kept  up  her  public  services,  first  on  the 
Lord's  Day,  and  afterwards  on  every  day  of  the  week.5 

Surely  it  is  reasonable,  that,  as  we  daily  receive  common 
mercies,  so  we  should  daily  acknowledge  them  in  Common 
Prayer.  And,  as  we  daily  need  fresh  supplies  both  tempo- 
ral and  spiritual,  for  our  public  as  well  as  private  wants,  we 
should  daily  approach  the  "  Throne  of  Grace"  together, 
through  our  Great  High  Priest.6  And  as  there  are  special 
promises  joined  to  Public  Prayer,7  and  special  advantages 
attendant  upon  it,8  so  by  its  habitual  neglect,  we  inflict  in- 
jury upon  others  as  well  as  upon  ourselves.9  But  although 
this  service  of  our  Church  was  designed  to  be  used  daily  in 
public  worship,  where  circumstances  would  admit  of  it ;  it 

l  Matt.  vi.  11.  Cyprian  applies  this  to  the  daily  reception  of  the 
Lord's  Supper,  a  clear  proof  of  the  daily  observance  of  that  ordinance  in 
his  time;  which  doubtless  must  have  been  in  public  worship.  See 
Bingham.  Ant.  xiii.  ix.  7.    Cyprian  De  Oraf.  Dom.  2  Contem.  B.  v.  4. 

3  Acts  ii.  40.        4  Heb.  x.  25.        s  see  Bingham's  Antiq.  xiii.  ix.  1,  7. 

g   Heb.  iv.  14—16.  7  Matt,  xviii.  19,  20. 

8  2  Cor.  i.  11.    Comp,  Psalm  exxii. 

9  Hooker  judiciously  remarks: — "The  good  which  we  do  by  public 
prayer,  is  more  than  in  private  can  be  done,  for  that  besides  the  benefit 
which  is  here,  is  no  less  procured  to  ourselves,  the  whole  Church  is  much 
bettered  by  our  good  example ;  and  consequently,  whereas  secret  neglect 
of  our  duty  in  this  kind  is  but  only  our  own  hurt,  one  man's  contempt  of 
the  Common  Prayer  of  the  Church,  may  be,  and  oftentimes  is,  most  hurt 
ful  unto  many." — Eccl.  Pol.  v.  21-  (2). 


48  DAILY    TEAYER. 

does  not  appear  that  it  was  ever  intended  to  supersede  the 
use  either  of  Private  or  Family  Prayer.1  And  though  it 
was  appointed  for  every  day  in  the  week,  yet  suitable  addi- 
tions are  provided  for  the  Sabbath  service  ;  thus  marking  off 
that  day,  which  is  emphatically  the  Lord's,  so  as  to  distin- 
guish it  from  all  the  rest.2 

[With  such  an  advocate  of  daily  public  service  as  our 
Author,  the  Committee  feel  that,  in  sentiment,  they  have 
scarcely  any,  and  that  in  practice  they  would  have  no  dis- 
agreement. In  the  present  condition  of  society,  few,  who 
will  duly  follow  the  Author's  judicious  advice — never  to  al- 
low attendance  on  public  worship  in  the  week  to  encroach 
upon  domestic  and  private  religious  duties — would  be  able  to 
engage  in  the  daily  service  of  the  Church.  Indeed,  the 
following  admission  will  be  found  in  Appendix  A.  "  It  may 
be  doubted  whether  it  is  practicable  to  restore  the  daily  pub- 
lic worship  of  God."  Still,  the  fear  seems  authorized,  that 
a  praiseworthy  admiration  of  our  Church  institutions  may 
have  led  our  Author  here  to  advocate  that,  which  if  the  ec- 
clesiastical authorities  ever  contemplated,  they  at  least  left 
optional,  and  which  has  been  unprofitable  in  its  use,  and  is 
becoming  partizan  in  its  character.  All  that  the  heading  of 
the  Morning  and  Evening  Prayer  would  seem  to  imply,  is 
that,  whenever  public  worship  happened  to  be  held  on  any 
day,  the  following  service  was  prescribed.  Custom,  too,  has 
sanctioned  this  construction  ;  and  a  wide  observation  leads  to 
the  fear  that,  excellent  as  the  Liturgy  is  in  itself,  yet,  its 
habitual  use,  when  unaccompanied  by  the  preached  word,  is 
apt  to  degenerate  into  formality. 

Nor  will  our  Author's  Scriptural  proofs  bear  scrutiny.  St. 
Paul's  exhortation  to  the  Hebrews,  "  not  to  forsake  the  assem- 
bling of  themselves  together,"  will  scarcely  be  regarded  as 
requiring  daily  meetings.  And  the  first  disciples  "  continu- 
ing daily  in  the  temple,"  under  extraordinary  circumstances, 

1  See  Appendix  A. 

2  As  the  burnt-offering  on  the  Sabbath,  was  double  that  on  common 
days,  Numb,  xxix-  3 — 10. 


EXHORTATION.  49 

and  under  great  religious  excitement,  cannot  be  pleaded  as 
an  example  of  every-day  life.  If  so,  they  who  advocate  the 
phalanstery  and  a  community  of  goods,  will  not  be  without 
Scripture  warrant.  (See  Acts  ii.  44 — 46.)  Indeed,  our 
Author  admits,  and  Bingham  proves,  that  the  daily  service 
was  not  set  up  until  the  third  century,  when  inspiration  had 
ceased,  and  when  error  and  form  had  too  much  displaced 
the  truth  and  power  of  the  Spirit. 

While,  however,  the  Committee  in  this  connection,  ex- 
press themselves  thus,  they  cannot  but  regret  that  such 
week-day  services  as  the  condition  of  society  allows, 
are  not  more  common,  and  better  attended.  With  all 
that  pray  for  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  Jerusalem,  too,  they 
would  look  forward  with  hope  to  that  millenial  state,  when 
the  curse  of  labour  being  at  least  partially  removed,  we  can 
perpetually  spend  our  time  in  the  temple,  beholding  the  fair 
beauty  of  God.] 

THE    SENTENCES. 

In  order  to  solemnize  the  mind,  and  prepare  it  for  com- 
munion with  God,  the  Daily  Service  opens  with  the  reading 
of  one  or  more  sentences,  taken  from  Holy  Scripture,  and 
suited  to  awaken  the  careless  sinner, '  encourage  the  trem- 
bling penitent,2  humble  the  proud  and  self-righteous,3  and 
detect  the  delusion  of  the  formal  worshipper.4  Though  but 
few  are  read  at  the  same  time,  yet  the  whole  selection  may 
profitably  engage  our  thoughts,  during  the  interval  which 
occurs  between  our  being  seated  in  the  place  of  worship,  and 
the  commencement  of  the  service. 

THE    EXHORTATION. 

In  the  Exhortation,  which  follows,  the  minister  anection- 

i  Ezek.  xviii.  27.  (In  King  Edward's  Second  Book  this  text  was  as 
follows:  "At  what  time  soever  a  sinner  doth  repent  him  of  his  sin  from 
the  bottom  of  his  heart,  /  will  put  all  his  wickedness  out  of  my  remem- 
brance, saith  the  Lord.")     Matt.  iii.  2. 

2  Psalm  li.  3,  9,  17.  Dan.  ix.  9,  10.  Jer.  x.  24.  Psalm  vi.  1.  Luke 
xv.  18.     1  John  i.  9.  3  psalm  li.  3,  17 ;  clxiii.  2.    1  John  i.  8. 

*  Joel  ii-  13.    See  Biddulph's  Essays  on  the  Liturgy,  v.  1.  p.  8—14. 
5 


50  CONFESSION. 

ately  invites  his  "  Dearly  beloved  Brethren" '  in  Christ,  to 
acknowledge  their  sins  before  "  God,  our  heavenly  Father  ;"  2 
a  duty  at  all  times  needful  to  be  performed;  but  especially 
in  public  worship,3  the  ends  of  which  arc  set  forth  in  a  brief 
and  comprehensive  manner  : 4  urging  them  to  "  accompany 
him  with  a  pure  heart  and  humble  voice,5  to  the  throne  of 
the  heavenly  grace ;"  6  that  confessing  their  sins,  they  "  may 
obtain   forgiveness  of  them  by   his  infinite   goodness   and 


THE    CONFESSION. 

The  Rubric 8  then  reminds  us,  that  we  ought  all  to  join  in 
the  humble  Confession  to  God,  "  falling  low  on  our  knees 
before  his  footstool," 9  as  "  miserable  offenders,"10  who  have 
deserved  nothing  but  condemnation  by  our  sins  both  of  omis- 
sion and  commission,11  and  who  have  no  power  to  help  or 
save  ourselves.12  This  "  admirable  form  of  Confession," 
which  is,  in  fact,  "  an  epitome  of  the  whole  Gospel,"  13 — 
"  traces  up  all  our  wanderings  from  God  to  the  fountain- 

i  Rom.  xii.  19.    Phil.  iv.  1.    1  Peter  ii.  11. 

2  2  Cor.  v.  20.    Jer  iii.  13.  (comp  4.)    Luke  xv.  18,  19. 

3  James  v.  16.  1  John  i.  8,  9.  Basil  says  they  began  their  public 
prayers  with  confession  of  sin. 

4  1,  "To  render  thanks  to  God," — as  in  the  Thanksgivings;  (Psalm  c, 
4  1  Cor.  xiv.  16,) — 2.  "To  set  forth  his  praise," — as  in  the  Psalms, 
Hymns,  and  Doxologies ;  (Psalm  cl,) — 3.  "  To  hear  his  word," — as  in  the 
Lessons,  Epistles,  Gospels,  and  Sermon;  (Neh.  viii.  8.  Acts  x.  33;  xiii, 
44,) — "And  4,  to  ask  those  things  that  are  necessary  for  our  bodies  and 
souls,"  as  in  the  Litany,  Collects,  and  other  Prayers  of  the  Church, — 
(Isaiah  lvi.  7.    Acts  ii.  42  ;  xvi.  13.    Phil.  iv.  6.     1  Tim.  it.  1.) 

5  "  Let  our  manner  of  speaking  in  prayer  be  quiet  and  modest.  Let 
us  consider  that  we  stand  in  the  presence  of  God," — Cyprian  de  Orat, 
Dora.    Comp.  Exod.  iii.  5.    Eccl.  v.  1,  2.    James  iv.  6,  8. 

6  Heb.  iv.  16.  ">  Psalm  xxxii,  5,    Prov,  xxviii,  13,    Isa,  lv,  7, 
8  See  Appendix  B.  9  Psalm  cxxxii.  7.  Prayer  Book. 

i  °  Luke  xviii.  13.    Rom.  vii.  24.    Rev.  iii.  17. 

1 1  Matt,  xxiii.  23.     1  John  iii.  4. 

12"  No  health  in  us,"  i.  e.  not  only  "  no  soundness"  (Isaiah  i.  5,  6),  but 
no  salvation,  (Hosea  xiii.  9),  for  so  the  word  "  health"  was  anciently  used ; 
and  in  this  sense  it  often  occurs  in  the  Prayer  Book. 

l  3  Dean  Milner — Life,  2nd  Ed.  pp.  442 — 445,  where  is  given  an  in- 
teresting exposition  of  the  Confession  by  this  great  and  good  man. 


AURICULAR    CONFESSION.  51 

head  of  iniquity,  the  corrupt  "  desires  of  our  hearts."  '  It 
describes  the  extent  and  aggravation  of  our  sinfulness,  as 
exhibited  in  such  a  variety  of  ways,  and  against  so  holy  a 
law.2  But,  in  this  extremity,  we  are  taught  to  look  up  to  the 
mercy  of  God  in  Christ,  as  our  only,  our  all-sufficient  Re- 
fuge.3 As  penitents  we  fly  to  the  general  promises  of  the 
Gospel,  which  we  plead  in  his  all-prevailing  name:  and  we 
ask,  not  only  for  pardon,4  but  for  grace,  to  enable  us  to 
''  live  a  godly,  righteous,  and  sober  life,  to  the  glory  of 
God's  holy  name!"5  Both  these  are  equally  necessary  to 
salvation ;  and  he  only  is  a  true  penitent,  who  desires  to  be 
delivered  from  the  power  and  dominion  of  sin,  as  well  as 
from  its  guilt  and  punishment. 

We  are  forcibly  reminded,  in  this  place,  of  the  striking 
contrast  which  subsists  between  the  evangelical  confession 
of  our  Church,  and  the  auricular  confession  of  "  the  mother 
of  abominations,"6  from  whom  we  seceded  at  the  Reforma- 
tion. Hers  was,  and  is  to  this  day,  a  device  of  deepest 
subtilty,  and  horrible  mischief;  contrived  apparently  for 
the  purpose  of  exercising  unbounded  tyranny  over  men's 
consciences,  and  used  as  an  engine  of  diabolical  wickedness 
and  priestly  domination.  Ours  is  a  Scriptural  acknowledg- 
ment to  Almighty  God  of  the  sins  of  which  we  are  guilty 
in  His  sight,  who  "  searcheth  the  heart ;" 7  and  it  ought 
never  to  fail  of  meeting  with  a  deep  response  from  the 
breasts  of  the  worshippers.  Indeed,  every  true  Christian 
must  feel,  that,  however  sure  of  acceptance  and  salvation, 
through  a  sealed  interest  in  the  merits  of  his  Divine  Re- 
deemer, it  is  a  real  relief  to  his  soul,  thus  to  pour  out  its 
grief  before  God  ;  not  in  a  servile  spirit,  through  dread  of 
punishment, — but  as  a  loving  and  beloved  child,  approach- 

1  Gen.  vi.  5.    Matt.  xv.  19.    James  i.  14. 

2  Psalm  cxix.  176.  Isaiah  liii.  6.  Rom.  vii.  12.  Bishop  Burnet  ob- 
serves that  "  The  Confession  is  conceived  in  general  words,  but  every 
one  ought  to  join  a  secret  confession  of  his  particular  sins." — History  of 
Reformation,  anno  1551. 

3  Rom.  v.  20,  21.    Heb.  vi.  18—20.     1  John  i.  7.  4  Heb.  viii.  12. 

5  Psalm  xxiii.  3.    Titus  ii.  11,  12.  and  John  xiv.  13;  xv,  8. 

6  Rev.  xvii.  5.  1  Jer.  xvii.  10. 


52  ABSOLUTION. 

ing  a  "  most  merciful  Father,"  '  and  mourning  over  the  sins 
which  have  grieved  Him,  and  the  offences  for  which  he 
needs  continual  forgiveness. 

THE    ABSOLUTION. 

That  [species  of]  forgiveness  is  authoritatively  declared 
by  the  Priest,  in  the  following  Absolution,2  which  was  "  directly 
levelled  against  Popery," 3  though,  to  some  ears,  it  may 
carry  a  Popish  sound.  For,  while  the  deluded  votaries  of 
Rome  are  taught  to  believe  that  the  Priest  has  power  to  for- 
give sins  ;  our  Church  here  proclaims  to  all  her  members 
that  she  owns  no  other  power  than  that  which  Christ  bestowed 
upon  his  ministers,4  "  to  declare  and  pronounce  to  his  people, 
being  penitent,  the  Absolution  and  Remission  of  their  sins."5 

It  was  added  to  the  morning-service,  along  with  the  pre- 
ceding portion,  in  the  second  Prayer-Book  of  Edward  VI., 
at  the  suggestion  of  the  two  foreign  Reformers  before  men- 
tioned.0 The  Absolution  is  not  a  prayer,  but  contains, 
first,  a  general  declaration  of  God's  mercy,  and,  a  parti- 
cular assurance  of  pardon  to  every  penitent  believer  ; 7  and, 
secondly,  an  exhortation  to  prayer  for  "  true  repentance, 
and  God's  Holy  Spirit,"  which  Christ  is  exalted  to  bestow, 
and  without  which  we  cannot  please  God.8 


l   Comp.  Jer.  xxxi.  20.     Lev.  xv.  20,  21.    2  Cor.  i.  3. 

~  i.  e.  loosbig.    Matt.  xvi.  19. 

^  Archbishop  Seeker.    Sermons,  vol.  vi.  4  John  xx.  21,  23. 

5  Wheatley  in  vain  labours  to  prove,  in  the  face  of  this  decisive  state- 
ment, that  the  Absolution  is  "  not  merely  declarative,  but  effective,  con- 
veying to  the  proper  subjects  thereof,  at  the  very  instant,  through  the 
priest's  ministrations,  the  very  absolution  itself."  In  what  respect  does  this 
differ  from  the  Popish  Sacrament  of  Absolution?  The  illustrious  founders 
of  our  Church  seem  to  have  had  no  intention  of  confining  this  Abso- 
lution to  the  Priest,  the  word  "  minister"  standing  in  the  Rubric,  till  the 
Restoration. 

6  See  p.  33.  The  service  originally  began  with  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
The  Sentences,  Exhortation,  &c,  were  not  added  to  the  Evening  Service 
till  the  last  Review — 1661,  although  in  King  Edward's  Primer,  they  were 
prefixed  to  the  "  Evening  Prayer  for  Sunday." 

7  See  Exek.  xviii.  23,  31,  32:  xxxiii.  11.  Mark  xvi.  15,  16.  Luke 
xxiv.  47.    Acts  xiii.  39  ;  xx.  21. 

8  Acts  v.  31.    Luke  xi.  13.    Heb.  xi.  G. 


AMEN. LORD  S    PRAYER.  53 

Viewed  in  this  light,  the  Absolution  is  a  truly  Evangeli- 
cal appendage  to  our  Daily  Service,  and  appears  to  be  fitly 
placed  at  the  front  of  it;  that  the  spiritual  worshipper, 
approaching  the  mercy-seat  with  due  solemnity  of  mind, 
and  having  confessed  his  sins  with  godly  sorrow,  may  now 
be  lifted  up  with  holy  humble  confidence,  upon  the  renewed 
assurance  of  His  Father's  forgiving  love.1 

When  we  add  our  "Amen"2  to  this  declaration,  we  not 
only  profess  our  cordial  belief  of  God's  forgiveness,  but  also 
give  in  our  solemn  assent  to  the  terms  of  the  Gospel, 
namely,  an  entire  renunciation  of  our  sins,  and  a  willing 
surrender  of  ourselves  to  the  influences  of  God's  Holy 
Spirit.  By  so  doing,  our  present  service  will  be  accepted 
through  the  merits  of  our  Redeemer,  "  the  rest  of  our  life 
hereafter  will  be  pure  and  holy,"  and  so  "  at  last  we  shall 
come  to  his  eternal  joy,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."  3 

THE    LORD'S    PRAYER. 

Having  thus  been  reassured  of  the  Divine  acceptance,  we 
are  suitably  called  to  join,  with  heart  and  voice,  in  that 
prayer  which  our  blessed  Lord  has  taught  us.  It  has  been 
said  by  some  of  the  ancient  Fathers,  that  this  prayer  was 
only  proper  for  the  baptized  Christian,  who  alone  could  call 
God  "  Our  Father T  4  But,  without  entering  on  a  question, 
which  belongs  more  properly  to  another  place,  and,  after 
all,  is  perhaps  rather  curious  than  profitable — we  may 
observe,  that  its  language  can  only  be  appropriated  by  those 
who  are  united  to  Christ  in  the  covenant  of  grace,  adopted 
into  the   number  of  God's  children,  and  renewed   by  the 

1  Heb.  x.  22. 

2  jpN  Hebrew  for  "  so  be  it."  or  "  so  it  is."  See  Numb.  v.  22.  Neh.  v. 
13.  1  Cor,  xiv,  16.  This  response  was  in  use  among  the  early  Christians, 
Justin  Martyr,  Apol.  ii.  87.  Tertull,  de  Spectac.  xxv.  &c.  It  should 
be  pronounced  audibly — though  not  with  noisy  vociferation,  as  it  may 
have  been  in  the  time  of  Jerome,  when  "  their  Amen  was  echoed 
like  a  thunderclap;"  and  as  it  is  by  some,  rather  vehement  than  sober 
minded  Christians,  at  the  present  day.  See  Hieron,  2  Proem.  Com,  in 
Galat,  When  Amen  is  printed  in  Roman  letters,  it  is  to  be  said  by  both 
minister  and  people  ;  when  in  Italics,  by  the  people  only. 

3  Heb.  xiii.  20,  21.     1  John  iii.  3.    Jude  21.  4  See  Appendix  C. 

5* 


54  LORDS    PRAYER. ITS    EXCELLENCE." 

Holy  Spirit.  To  such  it  is  always  welcome ;  and,  while 
some  have  complained  that  it  occurs  too  often  in  the  Ser- 
vice, (and,  we  may  admit,  it  is  now  more  frequently  repeated 
at  one  time  of  prayer,  than  was  originally  intended  ; ')  yet 
the  truly  spiritual  mind,  we  believe,  generally  regards  its 
repetition,  not  as  a  wearisome  burden,  but  as  a  renewed 
delight.2 

Without  attempting  an  exposition  of  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
which  our  limits  would  not  admit,  we  cannot  but  notice  how 
large  a  part  of  it  is  taken  up  with  petitions  for  the  advance- 
ment of  God's  glory,  the  latter  half  only  being  occupied 
with  supplication  for  ourselves.  Thus  did  our  Lord  teach 
us  to  "  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  his  righteous- 
ness," assuring  us  that  "  all  other  things  shall  be  added 
unto  us."3  There  is  such  a  holy  fervour,  majestic  sim- 
plicity, and  wonderful  comprehensiveness  in  this  sacred 
composition,  that  it  is  probable,  the  more  we  grow  in  the 
Divine  life,  the  more  we  shall  relish  and  appreciate  its 
beauty  and  preciousness.  "  Being  drawn  up  by  our  glorious 
Advocate,  who  knew  his  Father's  treasures  as  well  as  our 
wants,"4  and  would  not  "  command  us  to  ask  for  any  thing 
which  He  would  not  give  us;"5  it  teaches  us  at  once  what 
it  is  our  duty  to  do  and  be,  and  our  privilege  to  expect.  In 
the  privacy  of  the  closet,  as  well  as  in  domestic  and  public 
worship,  from  infancy  to  old  age,  it  is  the  safe  guide  and 
cheering  companion  of  our  devotional  exercises ;  briefly 
summing  up  all  our  wants,  and  presenting  us  with  an 
endearing  and  elevated  view  of  the  Divine  character,  which 

l  Three  services  being  now  united  into  one,  [The  above  objections  do 
not  apply  to  our  Prayer  Book  ;  as  the  ordinary  service  has  been  so  altered 
that  the  Lord's  Prayer  occurs  only  once.] 

~  Hooker  observes,  "  Our  custom  is  both  to  place  it  in  the  front  of  our 
prayers  as  a  guide,  and  to  add  it  in  the  end  of  some  principal  limbs  or 
parts,  as  a  complement  which  fully  perfecteth  whatsoever  may  be  defective 
in  the  rest/'     Eccl.  Pol.  v.  35  (3.) 

This  idea  is  taken  from  Tertullian  (I)e  Oratione)  who  calls  it  "  the  author- 
ized (legitima)  and  normal  (ordinaria)  prayer  which  is  laid  as  a  foundation 
on  which  our  other  prayers  are  to  be  built."  c.  ix. 

3  Matt.  vi.  33.  -1  Dean  Comber. 

j  Christian  Prayers.     Park*  Soc.  p.  32. 


RESPONSES.—  DOXOLOGT.  55 

wins  upon  the  heart,  and   thus  engages  all  the  energies  of 
the  soul  in  drawing  near  to  God.' 

Mow  painful  is  the  consideration,  that  multitudes  abuse 
this  divinely  appointed  form  of  prayer  to  purposes  of  super- 
stition and  hypocrisy  !  and  that  we  ourselves  have  too  often 
been  guilty  of  a  similar  irreverence  by  its  formal  and  care- 
less repetition ! 

THE    RESPONSES. 

The  continual  flow  of  the  service  is  here  broken  by 
Responses,  or  short  alternate  ejaculations  which,  as  quick 
darts,2  shot  up  to  heaven,  animate  the  feelings  of  the  wor- 
shippers, and  express  their  dependence  upon  God  for  power 
to  proceed.  "  O  Lord,  open  thou  our  lips,  and  our  mouth 
shall  shew  forth  thy  praise,"  &c.3  Thus  calling  upon  God 
for  "  help,"  we  march  onward,  singing  the  Doxology  of  the 
Ancient  Church,  "  Glory  be  to  the  Father,"  &c.4  How 
much  is  expressed  in  these  kw  words  !  The  whole  mys- 
tery of  the  Blessed  Trinity  is  here  comprehensively  summed 
up  in  a  solemn  act  of  adoration  :  and  the  Triune  Jehovah 
is  acknowJedged  as  our  Creator,  Redeemer,  and  Sanctifier — - 
the  one  living  and  true  God — who  in  every  age  has  been, 
and  to  all  eternity  will  be,  the  sole  object  of  worship  and 
dependence  to  the  true  Church.5 

1  The  Doxology,  "  For  thine  is  the  kingdom,"  &c.  was  not  added  in  this 
place,  till  the  last  Review.  In  the  former  Prayer  Books,  the  minister 
said  the  Lord's  Prayer  alone,  the  people  only  answering  at  the  end  of  it — 
"Deliver  us  from  evil."  Where  the  offices  ate  not  direct  acts  of  Thanks- 
giving, the  Doxology  is  omitted,  as  it  is  in  St,  Luke.  Lightfoot  -thinks  St. 
Matthew's  version  was  intended  for  public  use,  the  other  for  private,  Hor, 
Iltb.  Matt.  vi.  13. 

~  "  Dicuntur  fratres  in  yEgypto  crebras  quidem  habere  orationes,  sed  eaa 
tamen  brevissimas,  et  raptim  quodammodo  jaculntas.  Aug,  Ep.  cxxx.  10. 
The  reason  which  he  gives  is  important — "Lest  that  erect  attention,  so 
necessary  in  prayer,  should  fade  away  and  grow  dull,  through  longer  con- 
tinuance.'' 

3  Psalm  li.  15.  "  Our  mouths  are  silenced  only  by  sin,  and  opened  only 
by  God."  Bishop  Sparrow.  Psalm  lxx.  1.  is  a  paraphrase  of  "  Hosanna," 
Psalm  cxviii.  25. 

4  Respecting  the  ancient  Doxologies,  see  Hooker's  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  ! '. 
(7)— (11.) 

5  In  the  first  Prayer  Book  of  Edward  VI.  after  the  Gloria  Patri" — was 


56  THE    XCVth    PSALM. 

THE    XCVth    PSALM. 

Thus  far  the  Daily  Service  for  Morning  and  Evening 
Prayer  has  been  the  same  ;  at  this  point  they  diverge.  The 
xcvth  Psalm,  which  is  next  read,  in  the  Morning  Service, 
forms  a  proper  introduction  to  the  Psalms  and  Lessons.  It 
is  called  "  an  Invitatory  Psalm ;  for  herein  we  do  mutually 
invite  and  call  upon  one  another  being  come  before  his  pre- 
sence, to  sing  to  the  Lord,  to  set  forth  His  praises  and  to 
hear  His  voice." '  It  seems  to  have  been  composed  for  the 
use  of  the  Jewish  Church,  as  they  ascended  to  the  sanc- 
tuary, and  thus  forms  an  interesting  connecting  link  between 
the  services  under  the  Law  and  the  Gospel :  the  Apostle 
Paul  having  shewn  its  applicability  to  the  Christian  Dis- 
pensation.2 

In  the  same  place  he  has  pointed  out  an  important  lesson 
to  be  derived  from  it ;  namely,  that  although  "  many  are 
called  "  outwardly  to  be  of  the  number  of  God's  people, 
**  few  "  comparatively  "  are  chosen  "  3  to  enter  by  faith  and 
obedience  into  the  privileges  of  his  covenant  love  here,  or 
His  eternal  rest  hereafter.4  Thus  by  the  awful-  example 
of  unbelieving  Israel,  he  teaches  us  that,  in  every  assembly 
of  professed  worshippers,  there  are  many  (often,  it  is  to  be 
feared,  the  larger  number,)  who,  through  unbelief  and 
impenitence,  are  only  provoking  the  Almighty  by  their 
feigned  submission  and  unmeaning  services  :  and  while  he 
warns  us  not  to  trust  in  nominal  religion,  he  exhorts  us  to 
renewed  zeal  and  alacrity  in  the  worship  of  God.5  How 
beautifully  also  do  we  here  see  in  the  spirit  of  the  holy 
Psalmist,  the  most  profound  humility  6  combined  with  the 
most  affectionate  confidence  and  joyful  praise.7  Such  may 
our   worship  ever   be;  uniting  a  deep   sense  of  our  own 

simply  "  Praise  ye  the  Lord — and  from  Easter  to  Trinity  Sunday,  Alle- 
luia." The  latter  word  is  the  Hebrew  original  of  the  former,  which  was 
not  translated  by  the  ancient  Church — "  propter  sanctiorem  antiquitatem." 
as  Augustine  says.—  De  doctrin.  Christ,  ii.  11.    Comp.  Rev.  xix.  1.  3.  &c, 

i   Bp.  Sparrow.     2  See  Heb.  iii.  4.     3  Matt.  xx.  16.      4   Heb,  iii.  18,  19. 

5  Heb.  iii.  12—14  ;  iv.  1—3,  11.  c  psalm  xcv.  3,  6. 

7   Verses  1 — 7. 


TUP.    PSALMS.  57 

unworthiness,  with  the  most  lively  assurance  of  ihe  conde- 
scension, kindness,  and  faithfulness  of  our  covenant  God  ! 
May  every  word  of  God  which  we  hear  or  read  be  "  mixed 
with  faith,"  '  as  addressed  to  ourselves,  lest  through  care- 
lessness and  inattention,  our  hearts  become  insensibly  hard- 
ened, even  under  the  sound  of  the  Gospel!2 

THE    PSALMS. 

The  Psalms  follow,  which  are  read  through  in  the  Church 
once  a  month.3  They  are  indeed  admirably  adapted  for 
public  worship,  being  the  marrow  of  the  Bible  applied  to 
purposes  of  devotion.  Here,  as  in  another  Eden,  every 
flower  blooms  with  perennial  beauty,  and  every  fruit  is 
gathered  in  full  perfection.  For  every  sickness  of  the  soul, 
"  in  this  treasure-house,  a  present  comfortable  remedy  at 
all  times  may  be  found." 4  From  age  to  age  the  Psaltev 
has  been  the  handmaid  of  the  Church's  prayers  and  praises. 
The  Son  of  God  himself  made  use  of  this  manual.5  If  any 
now  object  to  their  use,  it  must  be  from  misconception  of 
their  design,  and  for  want  of  better  instruction.  Thus  some 
have  complained  of  the  bitter  imprecations  which  David  has 
made  use  of  against  his  enemies.  But  such  objectors  should 
remember  that  David  wrote  by  Divine  inspiration  :  so  that 
his  expressions  could  not  be  the  outbreak  of  sinful  passions, 
but  the  utterance  of  a  judicial  prediction.  By  us  they  are 
repeated  with  no  such  personal  application.  Or  if  we  may 
at  any  time  accommodate  these  passages  to  our  own  use, 
they  must  be  taken  in  a  spiritual  sense,  as  pointing  to  the 
enemies  of  Christ  and  his  Church,  of  which  David  was  an 
eminent  type.     Using  the  Psalms  in  this  manner,  with  a 

1  Heb.  iv.  2. 

2  By  using  the  Christian  Doxology  at  the  close  of  this  and  the  other 
Psalms,  "  we  do,"  as  Bishop  Sparrow  observes,  "  as  it  were  fit  this  part  of 
the  Old  Testament  for  the  service  of  God  under  the  Gospel,  and  make  them 
evangelical  offices." 

3  In  the  Church  of  Rome  they  are  read  through  in  a  week,  in  the  Greek 
Church  in  twenty  days.  4  Hooker,  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  37  (2.) 

b  Matt,  xxvii.  46.  Comp.  Psalm  xxii.  1.  Luke  xxiii.  46.  Comp.  Psalm 
xxx  i.  5. 


58  THE    LESSONS. 

leading  reference  to  Christ  throughout,  we  shall  fall  in  with 
the  mind  of  the  Spirit,  which  caused  them  to  be  "  written  for 
our  learning,"  '  and  specially  to  "testify  of  Him."2 

The  Version  of  the  Psalter  which  we  have  in  our  Prayer- 
Book,  is  taken  from  the  old  translation  by  Bishop  Cover- 
dale,  and  comes  nearer  to  the  Latin  than  the  Hebrew  ori- 
ginal.3 But  if  not  so  exact  as  our  authorized  Version,  it  is 
often  more  elegant,  and  sometimes  more  intelligible.  The 
custom  of  repeating  alternately  is  very  ancient,  being  pro- 
bably borrowed  from  the  Jews  by  the  early  Christian 
Churches.4 

LESSONS. 

After  the  Psalms  follows  the  First  Lesson,  taken  out  of 
the  Old  Testament,  the  greatest  part  of  which  is  thus  read 
over  once  a  year.5  This  mingling  of  services  of  different 
kinds  is  wisely  designed  to  drive  away  weariness,  and  keep 
all  the  powers  of  the  soul  in  exercise.  For  "he  who 
prayeth  in  due  sort  is  thereby  made  the  more  attentive  to 
hear,  and  he  who  heareth  the  more  earnest  to  pray."6 

HYMNS. 

After  the  reading  of  the  Lessons,  Hymns  are  interposed; 
which,  mingling  the  sweetness  of  music,  and  the  delight  of 
Psalmody,  with  the  graver  exercise  of  the  mind,  softly  in- 
stil Divine  truth  into  the  ear,  and  convey  it,  as  it  were  by 
stealth,  into  the   opened   heart.7     After  the  Morning  First 

l   Rom.  xv.  4.  2  John  v.  39.    Comp.  Luke  xxiv.  44. 

3  The  great  English  Bible,  translated  by  William  Tyndal  and  Miles 
Coverdale,  and  revised  by  Archbishop  Cranmer;  printed  in  1535,  The 
original  Latin  of  the  Prayer  Book  version  of  the  Psalter,  is  the  Gallican, 
a  translation  by  Jerome  from  the  Septuagint.    Palmer. 

4  See  Exod.  xv.  1,20,21.  Basil  says,  that  in  their  Psalmody — "they 
(Christians)  divided  themselves  into  two  parts,  and  sung  in  turns,"  Ep. 
Ixiii.  So  Tertullian  ad  Uxor.  &c.  This  also  was  the  case  in  Pliny's  time. 
See  Letter  to  Trajan.  5  See  Appendix  D. 

6  Hooker ;  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  34. 

7  Augustine  says  of  the  Hymns  of  the  Church,  'Voces  illae  influebant 
auribus  meis,  et  eliquabatur  Veritas  in  cor  meiim,' — Confess,  ix.  6.  For 
the  posture  of  standing  in  acts  of  praise,  see  2  Chron.  vii.  6.  Psalm 
ev.vxiv. 


THE    HYMNS. TE    DEUM.  59 

Lesson  follows  the  "  Te  Deum,"  so  called  from  the  first 
words  in  the  Latin.  This  sublime  ode  is  generally  attri- 
buted, though  not  upon  positive  grounds,  to  Ambrose,  the 
celebrated  bishop  of  Milan  in  the  fourth  century ;  and  it  was 
certainly  used  very  early  in  Christian  worship.1  It  has  been 
justly  admired  for  its  solemn  simplicity  of  style,  and  fervid 
eloquence  of  language  ;  and  contains  sentiments  truly  evan- 
gelical, expressed  in  a  manner  calculated  to  inspire  the  dull- 
est mind,  and  warm  the  coldest  heart.  Not  that  we  are  to 
look  for  these  effects  independently  of  Divine  influences  ;  for 
not  even  the  word  of  God  itself,  much  less  any  merely  hu- 
man composition,  can  produce  a  truly  salutary  impression, 
without  the  direct  and  sanctifying  operation  of  the  Spirit  of 
God. 

After  listening  to  the  preceding  portion  of  Holy  Scripture, 
how  appropriately  does  the  Church  burst  forth  in  this  noble 
Hymn,  ascribing  honour  and  glory  to  the  Eternal  Trinity, 
and  calling  upon  heaven  and  earth  to  re-echo  the  song  of 
praise  ! 2  It  consists  of  three  parts  :  first,  an  act  of  adora- 
tion ;  secondly,  a  confession  of  faith,  embracing  distinctly  the 
several  persons  in  the  Godhead,  and  the  union  of  the  Divine 
and  human  natures  in  the  Incarnation  of  Christ,  with  His 
sufferings  and  glory :  and,  thirdly,  a  prayer  for  ourselves 
and  the  whole  Church,  that  we  may  be  partakers  of  God's 
grace,  enjoy  His  favour,  and  be  "  kept  by  His  power,  through 
faith,  unto  salvation."3  In  this  truly  wonderful  Hymn,  the 
Church  militant  seems  almost  to  soar  up  to  the  choirs  of  the 
Church  triumphant,  and  to  anticipate  the  songs  and  the  ser- 
vices of  the  blessed  above. 

After  the  "  Te  Deum,"  is  inserted  a  "  Canticle,"  or  song 

3  It  is  said  to  have  been  composed  by  Ambrose  for  the  baptism  of 
Augustine.    Others  refer  it  to  the  sixth  century. 

2  The  stanzas, "To  thee,  Cherubim  and  Serpahim,''  &c„are  taken  from 
Isaiah  vi.  2,  3.  "  Sabaoth"  signifies  "hosts,"  in  Hebrew;  probably  with 
reference  to  "  the  armies  of  heaven,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth," 
(Dan.  iv.  35.)  The  triple  repetition  of  "Holy"  is  thought  to  refer  to  the 
mystery  of  the  Trinity.    Comp.  Rev.  iv.  8. 

3  1  Peter  i.  5.  "  Let  thy  mercy  lighten  upon  us,"  simply  means  "  alight," 
or  "  come  ;"  as  it  is  in  the  original. 


60  THE    DAILY    SERVICE. 

of  praise,  taken  from  the  Apocrypha,  and  known  hy  the 
name  of  "  The  Song  of  the  Three  Children,"  supposed  to 
have  been  sung  by  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abcdnego,  in 
the  fiery  furnace.1  It  is  evidently  an  imitation  of  the  148th 
Psalm,2  and  was  used  in  Christian  worship  at  a  very  early 
period.  It  is  now  seldom  used  in  parochial  churches ;  nor 
can  we  regret  its  neglect,  as  it  seems  to  bear  a  pretence  of 
Divine  inspiration.  These  two  are  the  only  hymns  of  hu- 
man composition  introduced  into  the  Daily  Service. 

Turning  to  the  Evening  Prayer,  we  find  the  98th  Psalm, 
appointed  to  be  used  after  the  First  Lesson ;  which  is  very 
appropriate,  as  referring  to  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation. 

The  Second  Lesson  is  next  read  ;  in  the  morning,  out  of 
the  Gospels  or  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  in  the  evening  out 
of  the  Epistles.  In  this  course  the  whole  New  Testament, 
excepting  the  Revelations,  is  gone  through  three  times  in  a 
year.3  Then  follows,  in  the  morning,  the  Song  of  Zacha- 
rias,4  which  is  so  full  of  striking  imagery,  and  evangelical 
truth,  that  we  may  well  lament  its  being  now  so  seldom 
heard  in  our  Churches.  In  this  remarkable  prophecy,  the 
aged  saint,  who  composed  it  under  the  influence  of  Divine 
inspiration,  describes  the  nature,  privileges,  and  effects  of  the 
salvation  of  Christ ;  that  grand  covenant-blessing,  which  is 
the  subject  of  all  the  Old  Testament  predictions,  and  the 
glad  tidings  more  fully  revealed  in  the  New; — comprehend- 
ing deliverance  from  sin,  Satan,  and  all  our  spiritual  ene- 
mies,— pardon  of  guilt,  knowledge  of  the  Divine  favour,  and 
assurance  of  God's  love; — along  with  inward  illumination, 
grace  and  strength,  by  the  constant  supplies  of  the  Holy 
Spirit ; — all  producing  a  stedfast  perseverance  in  the  ways 
of  holiness,  purity,  and  peace.  The  whole  of  this  Divine 
Eiymn  beams  with  Gospel  light,  and  beautifully  displays  the 

1  Dan.  iii. 

2  Thus  the  words,  "O  ye  spirits  and  souls  of  the  righteous,"  &c.  (which, 
taken  strictly,  would  seem  liable  to  dangerous  misconstruction,)  probably 
mean  no  more  than  similar  invocations  of  inanimate  creatures,  contained 
in  that,  and  other  Psalms. 

a  See  Appendix,  E.  4  Luke  i.  68—79. 


SCRIPTURAL    CHARACTER.  61 

connection  between  Evangelical  doctrines,  when  received 
into  the  heart  by  faith,  and  their  necessary  spiritual  results; 
— a  holy,  happy  course  of  walking  with  God  in  cheerful 
obedience  here,  and  everlasting  glory  in  the  life  to  come.  It 
well  deserves,  and  will  richly  repay  our  diligent  and  prayer- 
ful study.1 

The  100th  Psalm,  which  is  more  generally  used  instead 
of  the  preceding,  (perhaps,  on  account  of  its  brevity,)  is  very 
suitable  after  the  reading  of  the  Gospels.2  It  is  called  a 
"  Psalm  of  Praise,"  or  "thanksgiving,"3  and  is  supposed  to 
have  been  originally  designed  to  be  sung  when  the  "  sacri- 
fice of  thanksgiving,"  or  "  peace-offering,"  was  presented  to 
the  Lord.4  It  well  expresses  the  joy  of  the  redeemed,  while 
engaged  in  the  more  spiritual  sacrifice  of  celebrating  the 
praises,  and  acknowledging  the  loving-kindness  of  the  Lord 
"our  Peace."5 — 

The  67th  Psalm,  which  follows,  is  not  unfrequently  used 
in  the  place  of  the  103d  Psalm,  and  is  a  very  lively  Pro- 
phecy and  Prayer,  respecting  the  universal  spread  of  the 
Gospel.  In  the  two  first  verses  we  are  strikingly  shown 
the  close  connection  which  subsists  between  a  revival  of  true 
religion  at  home,  and  the  extension  of  the  Church  abroad. 
"  God  be  merciful  unto  us,  and  bless  Us,  &c.  That  thy 
way  may  be  known  upon  earth,  thy  saving  health  (salva- 
tion) among  all  nations."  And  never,  we  may  be  assured, 
is  the  Church  of  Christ  in  a  flourishing  state,  without  a  cor- 
responding increase  in  Missionary  efforts  for  the  conversion 
of  the  world.  Not  only  is  the  rise  or  fall  of  this  Apostolic 
zeal,  a  spiritual  thermometer,  an  accurate  criterion  of  the 
growth  or  decline  of  Christian  piety ;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  without  a  spring  of  vital  religion  powerfully  at  work 

1  See  Mr,  Venn's  Essay  on  this  Hymn,  called  *'  Mistakes  in  Religion," 
published  by  the  Religious  Tract  Society. 

2  This  Psalm  was  not  inserted  in  the  first  Prayer  Book. 

3  See  Title  to  Bible  Version  and  Margin. 

■*  Bishop  Patrick,  and  Scott's  Commentary.    See  Lev.  vii.  11—21. 
5  Eph.  ii.  1 4. . 

6 


62  THE    DAILY    SERVICE. 

in  our  own  breasts,  we  shall  in  vain  pretend  to  active  labour, 
for  the  evangelization  of  others. 

In  reviewing  the  preceding  part  of  the  Daily  Service, 
we  cannot  but  be  struck  with  the  large  body  of  Scripture 
which  is  thus  every  day  brought  before  our  minds.  Besides 
the  introductory  Sentences,  and  other  short  portions  thickly 
interspersed  throughout  its  different  parts ;  we  daily  read 
five  Psalms  (on  the  average,)  two  chapters  out  of  the  Old 
Testament,  and  as  many  out  of  the  New,  along  with  four 
Hymns  taken  out  of  the  Psalms,  or  other  parts  of  Holy 
Scripture.  Although  we  know  that  the  mere  perusal  of  the 
Word  of  God,  however  extensive,  regular,  and  frequent, 
cannot  of  itself,  give  us  any  spiritual  understanding  of  Di- 
vine truth ;  yet,  surely,  it  is  a  subject  for  thankfulness,  and 
a  call  for  deep  self-examination  as  to  the  use  we  have  made 
of  our  privileges — that,  (instead  of  having  our  time  occu- 
pied, as  in  the  days  of  Popish  supremacy,  in  hearing  idle 
fables,  and  legends  of  superstition  and  falsehood :)  we  are 
thus  daily  fed  with  such  plenty  of  the  bread  of  life  ;  and 
presented  with  that  heavenly  instruction,  which,  by  the 
teaching  of  God's  Holy  Spirit,  is  "  able  to  make  us  wise 
unto  salvation,  through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus."  '  If  the  word 
of  God  is  "the  incorruptible  seed"2  of  faith,  the  divinely- 
appointed  means  of  our  conversion,  sanctification,  and  con- 
solation ;  then,  surely,  we  cannot  be  too  grateful  for  such 
an  abundant  supply  of  this  chief  article  of  spiritual  suste- 
nance, in  the  appointed  provision  made  for  our  daily  nourish- 
ment and  growth  in  grace,  by  our  faithful  mother,  the  Pro- 

1  2  Tim.  iii.  15.  "  They  (the  ancient  Fathers)  so  ordered  the  matter,  that 
all  the  whole  Bible,  (or  the  greatest  part  thereof,)  should  be  read  over  once 
every  year  ;  intending  thereby,  that  the  clergy,  and  especially  such  as  were 
ministers  in  the  congregation,  should  (by  often  reading,  and  meditation  in 
God's  word)  be  stirred  up  to  godliness  themselves,  and  be  more  able  to 
exhort  others  by  wholesome  doctrine,  and  to  confute  them  that  were  adver- 
saries to  the  truth ;  and  further,  that  the  people,  (by  daily  hearing  of  Holy 
Scripture  read  in  the  Church)  might  continually  profit  more  and  more  in 
the  knowledge  of  God,  and  be  more  inflamed  with  the  love  of  his  true 
religion." — Preface  to  Prayer-Book. 

2  1  Peter  i.  23. 


THE    CREED.  63 

testant  Episcopal  Church.  Even  if  her  ministers  should 
prove  unfaithful  to  their  charge,  and  so  fail  in  the  perform- 
ance of  their  pastoral  duty,  "  handling  the  word  of  God 
deceitfully,"1  or  neglecting  to  "declare  His  whole  coun- 
sel ;" 2  such  has  been  her  wise  care  for  the  edification  of  all 
her  children,  that  they  cannot  perish  "  for  lack  of  know- 
ledge" 3  except  by  their  own  fault. 

THE    CREED. 

Confession  of  faith  rightly  follows  the  hearing  of  the 
word.4  For  this  purpose  we  use  the  Apostles'  Creed,5  which 
is  a  very  ancient  summary  of  Christian  truth,  collected  out 
of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  and  compressed  into  a  form  con- 
venient for  remembrance  and  repetition.6  Though  not 
composed  by  the  Apostles,7  it  contains  nothing  but  Apos- 
tolic doctrine ;  and  is  so  surely  based  upon  the  Word  of 
Truth,  and  expressed  in  such  venerable  simplicity  of  lan- 
guage, that  it  is  next  to  impossible  to  dispute  the  correct- 
ness of  any  of  its  Articles,  without  at  the  same  time  seem- 
ing to  question  the  authority  of  Holy  Scripture  itself.  Thus 
some  have  objected  to  the  expression,  "  He  descended  into 
hell"  which  is,  in  fact,  only  a  quotation  from  the  Bible.8 
Others  are  offended  at  the  article  which  expresses  a  belief 

i  2  Cor.  iv.  2.  2  Acts  xx.  27. 

3  Hosea  iv.  6.  *  Rom,  x.  17. 

5  So  called  from  "  credo?  "  I  believe,"  the  first  word  in  the  Latin, 

6  "  Ista  verba  per  divinas  Scripturas  sparsa  sunt :  sed  hide  collecta  et  ad 
unum  redacta,  ne  tardorum  memoria  laboraret ;  ut  omnis  homo  possit 
dicere,  possit  tenere  quod  credit," — Aug,  de  Symbolo,  ad  Catech.  1. 

7  See  Bishops  Pearson  and  Burnet  on  the  Creed,  and  Bingham's  Ant. 
x.  iii.  5.  Dean  Comber  maintained  the  contrary  opinion,  following 
Ruffinus. 

8  Psalm  xvi.  10.  Acts  ii.  27,  31.  The  word  "Hell"  in  Saxon,  signifies 
a  concealed  place — from  "  hil  "  to  hide,  Sixti>  in  Hebrew,  and  A&M  in  Creek, 
have  the  same  ambiguity.  Here  it  must  be  the  same  as  "  Paradise,"  the 
place  where  our  Saviour's  spirit  went,  for  the  short  interval  between  his 
death  and  resurrection,  Luke  xxiii,  43,  It  must  be  allowed,  however,  that 
the  literal  interpretation,  is  that  which  our  Church  originally  held, 
See  ch.  xvi.  B.  Bishop  Latimer's  Sermons.  Parker  Society  Ed.  Vol.  i, 
334—236. 


64  THE    DAILY    SERVICE. 

"  in  the  holy  Catholic  Church," '  supposing  it  to  mean  a 
certain  outward  form  of  Church  fellowship,  out  of  which  it 
is  asserted  by  some  that  there  is  no  salvation.  But  this 
expression  ought,  in  all  fairness,  to  be  taken  as  meaning 
no  more  than  the  universal  Church  of  Christ,  consisting 
of  all  true  Christians,  of  every  age  and  nation,  throughout 
the  world  ; 2 — an  idea  as  remote  from  exclusive  bigotry  as 
can  possibly  be  conceived.  The  whole  of  this  excellent 
formulary  deserves  our  careful  consideration,  and  will  be 
found,  when  rightly  understood,  and  cordially  embraced,  to 
be  a  valuable  help  to  our  devotional  exercises ; 3  bringing 
Divine  truth  before  the  mind  in  a  very  clear  and  distinct 
manner,  free  from  the  technicalities  of  system,  and  unfet- 
tered by  artificial  terms,  of  human  invention ;  which,  how- 
ever useful  and  even  necessary  in  their  place,  tend  often- 
times to  cramp  the  thoughts,  and  form  a  religion  of  sounds, 
rather  than  of  living  sentiments.  In  this  venerable  standard 
of  Christian  faith,  the  glorious  objects  of  religious  worship 
are  presented  to  the  soul,  in  the  simple  majesty  of  Scrip- 
tural statement ;  not  merely  for  naked  inspection,  and  assent 
of  the  intellect,  but  for  devout,  affectionate,  and  personal 
appropriation.  God  as  our  Father,  Christ  as  our  Saviour, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost  as  our  Sanctifier,  are  here  set  before 
us  ;  that  our  faith  may  be  strengthened,  our  hope  animated, 
and  our  love  inflamed,  and  made  effectual  in  new  and  holy 
obedience.  The  Apostles'  Creed  is  the  food  of  the  healthy 
and  renewed  soul,  rather  than  the  medicine  of  the  sick;  and 
is  mainly  occupied  with  the  truths  on  which  faith  may  rest 
with  comforting  assurance.  Thus  the  eternal  punishment 
of  the  wicked  is  implied,  indeed,  but  not  expressed  in  this 
ancient  formulary.4  [It  is  optional  to  use  the  above  or] 
the   Nicene  Creed,  a  venerable  formulary,  of  which   the 

1  Calvin  (Instit.  B.  iv.  c.  i.  2.)  objects  to  the  particle  "  in,"  joined  to  "  be- 
lieve," in  this  Article.  But  Bishop  Pearson  has  well  shown  that  there  is  no 
peculiar  force  to  be  attached  to  it. 

2  1  Cor.  i.  2.  Eph. vi.24.  "The  Church  of  Rome  hath  presumed  to 
call  itself  the  Catholic  Church,  which  it  no  more  is,  than  one  diseased  limb, 
though  perhaps  the  larger  for  being  diseased,  is  the  whole  body  of  a  man." 
Archbishop  Seeker.  3  See  Appendix  F.  4  See  Appendix  G. 


RESPONSES.  65 

greater  part  was  drawn  up  at  the  council  of  Nice,  held 
A.  D.  325,  under  Constantine,  the  first  Christian  emperor, 
in  order  to  examine  and  check  the  errors  of  the  Arian 
heresy.  This  accounts  for  the  more  subtle  distinctions 
made  in  this  Creed  than  in  the  more  simple  and  ancient 
formulary.1 

RESPONSES. 

Having  joined  in  making  a  common  confession  of  faith, 
before  engaging  in  prayer,  the  minister  and  people  mutually 
address  each  other  in  those  simple  expressions  of  Chris- 
tian sympathy  and  regard  which  follow: — the  minister  pray- 
ing for  the  people,  "  The  Lord  be  with  you."2  and  they  for 
him,  saying,  "And  with  thy  spirit."3  Then  "all  devoutly 
kneeling,"  at  the  bidding,  "  Let  us  pray,"4  they  supplicate, 
in  alternate  petitions,  the  mercy  and  grace  of  God.5  "  When 
there  is"  indeed  "  such  mutual  love,"  as  these  forms  ex- 
press, "  and  such  joint  prayers  offered  for  each  other,  then," 
(as  the  poet  of  our  Church  has  beautifully  observed)  "  the 
holy  angels  look  down  from  heaven,  and  are  ready  to  carry 
such  charitable  desires  to  God  Almighty,  and  he  as  ready 
to  receive  them  ;  and  a  Christian  congregation  calling  thus 
upon  God,  with  one  heart  and  one  voice,  and  in  one  reve- 
rent and  humble  posture,  look  as  beautifully  as  Jerusalem, 
that  is  at  peace  with  itself."6 

Having  thus  summed  up  our  imperfect  petitions  in  our 
Lord's  perfect  pattern  of  prayer,  which,  like  a  radiant  dia- 
mond, collects  the  dispersed  beams  of  light  in  the  mind,  and 
reflects  them  around ; — we  respond,  with  a  holy  emulation, 

3  See  Appendix  H.  2  Ruth  ii.  4.    2  Thess,  iii.  16. 

3  2  Tim.  iv.  22,  "  thy  spirit,"  i.  e.  "  thyself" — as  the  Hebrew  phrase 
signifies.  4  See  Appendix  I. 

s  Called,  from  the  Greek,  the  Kyrie  eleison,  or  "  lesser  Litany."    It  re- 
minds us  of  those  beautifully  simple  lines  in  the  "  Lamentation  of  a  sin- 
ner :"  "  Mercy  good  Lord !  mercy  I  ask  ; 
This  is  the  total  sum : 
For  mercy,  Lord,  is  all  my  suit — 
O  let  thy  mercy  come !"        See  Psalm  cxxiii.  3. 
6  G.  Herbert's  life,  by  I.  Walton. 

G* 


66  THE    DAILY    SERVICE. 

in  the  following  versicles,  principally  taken  from  the  Psalms,' 
and  peculiarly  helpful  to  awaken  our  attention,  and  refresh 
the  languid  flame  of  piety. 

THE    COLLECTS. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  the  Collects2  so  remarkable  for 
brevity  and  comprehensiveness ;  that  by  means  of  short  and 
frequent  prayers,  "  our  minds  and  affections  may  become 
more  erect,  close,  and  earnest  by  the  oftener  breathing  out 
our  hearty  concurrence,"3  in  the  final  Amen.  They  con- 
sist generally  of  an  address  to  God,  adoring  Him  for  Ilis 
Divine  perfections,  and  reminding  Him  of  His  gracious  pro- 
mises ;  to  which  we  add  one  or  more  short  but  fervent  peti- 
tions for  temporal  and  spiritual  mercies :  concluding,  with  a 
distinct  reference  to  Christ's  mediation,  (which  is  thus  kept 
continually  in  view4)  and,  not  un frequently,  to  the  mystery 
of  the  sacred  Trinity.  On  the  whole,  the  Collects  are  full 
of  Scripture,  well  digested,  and  in  its  due  proportions,  alto- 
gether forming  a  little  body  of  theology,  and  breathing  the 
purest  spirit  of  true  Christianity.  In  them  precept  and  pro- 
mise are  everywhere  united  ; .  thus  displaying  that  complete 
harmony  of  the  Christian  character,  in  which  affectionate 
confidence  is  combined  with  lowly  self-abasement,  and  joy- 
ful hope  with  conscientious  diligence,  and  ever-watchful 
perseverance  in  well-doing.  Above  all,  Jesus  Christ  is  con- 
spicuous, as  "the  Alpha  and  Omega."5 — Christ,  in  the 
whole  of  His  work  and  offices,  His  glorious  person,  and 
perfect  example,  as  a  complete  and  all-sufficient  Saviour ; — 
as  dying  for  us,  and  working  in  us  by  His  Spirit;  as  living 

l  Psalm  lxxxv.  7.  1  Sam.  x.  24,  or  2  Kings  xi.  12.  Psalm  xx.  9; 
exxxii.  9;  xxviii.  9.  1  Chron.  xxii.  9,  with  Psalm  lx.  11,  and  Exod. 
xiv.  14.     Psalm  li.  10.  11. 

-  The  name  Collect  is  of  doubtful  derivation  :  some  referring  it  to  the 
collection  of  the  people  in  public  worship:  others  to  the  collecting  of  various 
jutitioiis  into  short  forms  of  prayer;  while  it  is  more  commonly  supposed 
to  be  taken  from  their  being  collected  out  of  the  Scriptures,  Bingham  ex- 
plains it  of  "  the  recollection  or  recapitulation  of  the  preceding  prayers," 
Ant.  xv.  L  4.    See  also  Palmer's  Orig.  Vol-  ii.  p.  37. 

3  Bishop  Sparrow, 

4  John  xiv.  6;  xvi.  23.  24.  s  Rev.  i.  8.  11. 


THE    COLLECTS.  67 

in  Heaven  to  intercede  for  us,  and  coming  again  to  receive 
us  to  himself,  "  that  where  He  is,  there  we  may  be  also." ' 

Thus,  throughout  the  year,  in  regular  order,  some  part 
or  other  of  Christ's  finished  work  is  constantly  set  before  us, 
as  the  attractive  object  of  our  faith  and  hope: — that  so,  His 
"  love"  continually  "  constraining  us,"2  we  may  "  run  with 
patience  the  race  which  is  set  before  us,  looking  unto  Jesus," 
all  the  way  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  as  "  the  author 
and  finisher  of  our  faith."3  But  we  shall  have  occasion  to 
speak  more  fully  on  this  subject,  when  we  come  to  treat  of 
the  Festivals  of  the  Church.  Suffice  it  to  add,  that  the  Col- 
lects are,  for  the  most  part,  of  very  ancient  date,  having 
been  taken,  with  some  alterations,  out  of  the  old  service- 
books,  used  by  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches,  in  the  times 
of  Ohrysostom,  Ambrose,  and  Gregory  the  Great.4 

Three  Collects  are  appointed  to  be  used  in  the  Morning 
and  Evening  services;  the  first  for  the  day,  or  preceding 
Sunday,  the  second  for  Peace,5  the  third,  in  the  Morning, 
"for  grace  to  live  well,"  and  in  the  Evening,  "for  aid 
against  all  perils  and  dangers."  The  four  stationary  Col- 
lects are  very  well  adapted  for  family  and  private  prayer, 
and  may  be  profitably  used  in  this  way,  especially  by  those 
who  cannot  spare  much  time  for  devotional  exercises,  and 
who  have  not  an  opportunity  of  uniting  in  daily  public  wor- 
ship. 

The  Prayers  for  those  in  authority  over  us,  the  Clergy 
and  people,  and  "  for  all  conditions  of  men,"  as  well  as  the 
"  General  Thanksgiving,"  have  been  gradually  added  to  the 
service  at  its  different  revisions. 

i  John  xiv.  3.  22  Cor,  v.  14.  3  Heb,  xiii.  1,  2. 

4  See  Milner's  Church  History,  Vol.  iii.  p.  88.    Palmer's  Orig.  Lit. 

s  In  the  morning,  for  outward  peace,  and  deliverance  from  our  enemies, 
(Psalm  lix.  1,)  and  in  the  evening,  for  inward,  spiritual  peace,  "  which  the 
world  cannot  give,"  in  a  good  conscience,  freedom  from  anxious  fears, 
and  a  quiet  mind  (John  xiv.  27.  Luke  i.  74,  75.  Phil.  iv.  7.)  The  pre- 
faces to  these  Collects  are  peculiarly  beautiful  and  rich  in  evangelic 
truth.    See  John  xvii.  3,  and  Rom.  vi.  22.    Phil  ii.  13. 


68  THE    DAILY    SERVICE. 

PRATERS    FOR    THOSE    IN    AUTHORITY,    &C. 

The  Prayer  for  Rulers,  was  first  added  in  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth,  having  before  appeared,  in  a  somewhat  longer 
form,  in  King  Edward's  Primer.1  In  praying  for  our  gov- 
ernors, we  act  in  obedience  to  the  plain  command  of  the 
Apostle.  Nor  do  we  less  consult  our  own  best  interests  by 
so  doing ;  as  no  other  means  can  more  conduce  to  our 
"  leading  a  quiet  and  peaceable  life  in  all  godliness  and 
honesty."2 

How  would  peace  and  righteousness  flow  down  our  coun- 
try, like  a  mighty  stream,  if  all  our  people  thus  prayed  for 
their  governors,  and  all  our  rulers,  in  answer  to  our  prayers, 
were  "  endued  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  enriched  with  heavenly 
grace,"  and  lived  as  the  heirs  of  an  "  everlasting  kingdom  !" 

PRAYER    FOR    THE    CLERGY. 

The  Prayer  for  the  Clergy 3  and  people  is  very  excellent 
and  instructive,  and,  brief  as  it  is,  abounds  with  truth  both 
practical  and  experimental.  The  Church  seems  to  call  to 
mind  the  wonders  which  God  wrought  for  her  in  the  days 
of  her  youth ;  the  season  of  Pentecostal  influence,  when 
Christ's  "  people  were  made  willing  in  the  day  of  his 
power,"  and  arrayed  "  in  the  beauties  of  holiness  from  the 
womb  of  the  morning." 4  And  looking  at  the  vast  field 
which  still  lies  open  before  her,5  and  considering  the  weak- 
ness of  the  instruments,6  and  the  amount  of  labour  required 

i  See  Private  Prayer  for  Sunday  morning.  Parker  Soc-  Ed.  p.  393. 
it  is  taken  out  of  Gregory's  Sacramentary. 

2  1  Tim.  ii.  2.  Comp.  Jer.  xxix.  7.  "  As  the  son  of  Syrach  says,  ch. 
x.  2.  "As  the  Judge  of  the  people  is  himself,  even  so  are  his  officers, 
and  what  manner  of  man  the  ruler  of  the  city  is,  such  are  all  they  that 
dwell  therein."  A  good  Josiah,  Hezekiah,  or  David  promote  religion, 
and  honesty,  and  the  right  worship  of  God  among  the  people ;  but  a 
Jeroboam,  by  setting  up  calves  in  Dan  and  Bethel,  makes  all  the  people 
6in." — Bishop  Sparrow,  Ration. 

3  So  called  from  nXripo; — a  lot,  either  because  they  are  peculiarly  the 
Lord's,  or  because  they  were  anciently  chosen  by  lot.  Acts  i.  17,  25,  213, 
Gr.  4  Psalm  ex.  3.  Comp,  Acts  ii.  1—7,  11 ;  and  vi.  7. 

5  John  iv.  35.  6  2  Cor.  iv.  7         8 


PRAYER  FOR  THE  CLERGY.  69 

for  its  cultivation,  she  bursts  out  into  the  sublime  and  solemn 
invocation — "  Almighty  and  everlasting  God,  [from  whom 
cometh  every  good  mid  'perfect  gift."]  And  then,  in  the 
spirit  of  Him  who  said — "  Pray  ye  the  Lord  of  the  harvest, 
that  He  will  send  forth  labourers  into  his  harvest," '  and  in 
obedience  to  the  Apostolic  injunction,2  she  proceeds  to  sup- 
plicate for  "all  Bishops  and  other  ministers,"  "and  the  con- 
gregations committed  to  their  charge,  the  healthful  spirit"  of 
Divine  "  grace ;"  that  plentiful  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
which,  like  a  refreshing  "  rain,  may  confirm  God's  inheri- 
tance, when  weary"3  of  drought.  And  as  neither  Ministers 
nor  their  flocks  can  please  God,  in  their  several  stations, 
without  his  constant  support  and  assistance,4  we  pray  that 
he  would  be  pleased  to  "  pour  down  upon  them  the  con- 
tinual dew  of  his  blessing  ;"5  which  "  as  the  small  rain  upon 
the  tender  herb,  and  as  the  showers  upon  the  grass,"6  may 
revive  the  energies  of  the  soul,7  and  make  the  Church  "  like 
a  watered  garden  ;"8  so  that  "the  wilderness  and  the  solitary 
place  may  be  glad  for  them,  and  the  desert  may  rejoice  and 
blossom  as  the  rose."9  Nor  is  the  close  of  this  Evangelical 
prayer  less  worthy  of  our  attention ;  in  which  we  ascribe  all 
the  honour  arising  from  ministerial  success  to  God  alone, 
for  whose  glory  we  plead,  and  for  the  increase  of  his  king- 
dom, who  is  "  our  only  Mediator  and  Advocate  :"10  who  pre- 
sents our  imperfect  petitions  with  acceptance  to  the  Father, 
ami  perfumes  our  unworthy  offerings  with  the  incense  of 
his  prevailing  intercession.11 

OCCASIONAL    PRAYERS. 

The  Occasional  Prayers  and  Thanksgivings- deserve  our 
attention,  in  this  place,  not  only  on  account  of  their  own 
intrinsic  excellence,   and   appropriate  character ;    but  also 

i  Malt.  ix.  33.  2  2  Thess.  iii.  1. 

3  Psalm  lxviii.  9.    Comp.  Joel  ii-  28.    Psalm  exxxii.  16.    Jer.  xxxi.  14. 

4  2  Cor.  ii.  16.    Heb.  xiii.  21.  5  Isaiah  xxxii.  15.    Hosea  xiv.  5. 
c  Deut.  xxxii.  2.  and  28.              7  TJab.  iii.  2.  8  Isaiah  lviii.  11. 

9  Isaiah  xxxv.  1.  1  °  1  Tim,  ii.  5.    1  John  ii.  i. 

1 1  Eph.  i.  6.    Rom.  viii.  34.    Heb.  vii.  25. 


70  THE    DAILY    SERVICE. 

from  the  importance  of  such  particular  deprecation  of  Divine 
judgments,  and  acknowledgment  of  providential  mercies.1 
But  as  they  are  seldom  in  use,  they  do  not  seem  to  require 
further  notice  in  this  brief  compendium.  The  Thanks- 
givings were  added  in  the  reign  of  James  I.  The  Prayers 
for  Ember  Weeks  will  be  considered  in  a  future  chapter. 

In  this  place,  during  the  session  of  [Congress,]  is  added  a 
Prayer  for  the  Divine  blessing  on  the  great  council  of  the 
nation.  [Its  substance]  was  originally  drawn  up  in  the  reign 
of  Charles  the  First,  but  received  some  alterations  and  addi- 
tions at  the  accession  of  his  son,  Charles  the  Second. 

We  may  observe,  that  the  spirit  of  devout  dependence 
upon  God,  as  the  author  of  all  good,  the  fountain  of  all  wis- 
dom, and  the  giver  of  all  national  prosperity,  which  breathes 
throughout  this  prayer,  is  well  deserving  of  attention  ;  as 
well  as  that  enlightened  zeal  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
welfare  of  mankind,  founded  upon  the  basis  of  true  religion, 
which  dictated  the  petition,  "  that  peace  and  happiness,  truth 
and  justice,  religion  and  piety,  may  be  established  among 
us  for  all  generations."2 

The  "  Collect  for  all  conditions  of  men,"  was  added  to  the 
Prayer  Book  at  the  last  Review.  It  is  full  of  expansive 
Christian  Charity,  and  is  a  kind  of  compendium  of  the 
Litany,  in  the  stead  of  which  it  is  used.3     Here  we  are  di- 


i  See  1  Kings  viii.  33 — 37.  The  Prayers  for  Rain  and  Fair  Weather,  are 
in  King  Edward's  First  Book,  after  the  Communion  Service :  the  other 
four,  for  Death,  War,  and  Sickness,  were  added,  in  the  Second  Book,  at 
the  end  of  the  Litany ;  where  the  Prayers  for  the  King,  &c.  were  also 
placed,  till  1661. 

2  What  a  comprehensive,  scriptural,  and  truly  charitable  prayer !  We 
desire  universal  peace,  but  upon  the  ground  of  sacred  truth.  We  pray  for 
public  happiness,  but  only  in  connection  with  religion  and  piety.  We  ask 
for  justice  to  all  parties,  but  such  as  regards  their  highest  and  best  inte- 
rests— justice  to  their  souls.  And  this,  not  upon  the  sandy  foundation  of 
expediency,  and  the  popular  will,  but  of  eternal  truth ;  that  by  the  godly 
union  of  Church  and  State,  these  blessings  may  be  established  for  ever. 
Happy  the  nation  whose  legislators  prosecute  their  labours  under  the  hal- 
lowing influence  of  such  a  prayer  as  this !    "  O  si  sic  omnia !" 

3  Some  are  of  opinion  that  this  prayer,  and  the  General  Thanksgiving, 
were  only  intended  to  be  used  occasionally    See  Walker's  Elem.  Lit. 


THANKSGIVING.  71 

rected  to  pray,  not  only  for  all  Christians,  but  for  all  man- 
kind ; '  that  they  may  be  converted  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  if 
now  strangers  to  his  name,  or  enemies  to  his  truth ;  and 
may  thus  be  made  partakers  of  his  great  salvation.2  "  More 
especially  we  pray  for  the  good  estate  of  the  Catholic 
Church,"3  that  is,  "  all  who  profess  and  call  themselves 
Christians,"  that  they  "  may  be  led  into  the  way  of  truth," 
"as  it  is  in  Jesus,"4  by  the  "guidance  and  government  of 
God's  Holy  Spirit  ;"5  and  being  thus  delivered  from  danger- 
ous heresy  and  soul-destroying  errors,  may  "  hold  the  faith 
in  unity  of  spirit,  in  the  bond  of  peace,  ami  in  righteousness 
of  life."6  The  earnest  intercession  for  "the  afflicted  in 
mind,  body,  or  estate,"7  must  not  be  unnoticed ;  as  beauti- 
fully expressing  the  sympathy,  which  all  the  members  of 
Christ's  body  ought  to  feel  one  for  another. 

And  here  the  Church  has  provided  us  with  an  oppor- 
tunity, (the  neglect  of  which  may  well  reprove  our  remiss- 
ness,) for  bringing  our  individual  trials  before  the  Lord's 
people,  when  assembled  in  His  presence,  and  engaging  the 
prayers  of  the  faithful  in  our  behalf.  Surely  every  true 
Christian  will  highly  value  such  an  invitation  to  make 
known  our  wants  to,  and  pray  for  one  another.8  Thus  also 
God  is  especially  honoured,  many  being  led  to  glorify  him 
for  the  mercies  which  they  have  helped  to  obtain.9  An 
opening  for  this  due  return  of  praise  for  benefits  thus 
received,  is  afforded  us  in  the  General  Thanksgiving ;  an 
opportunity,  alas !  which  is  in  little  request  at  the  present 
day  of  lukewarm  prayers,  and  still  more  neglected  thanks- 
givings. Might  not  our  Blessed  Lord  address  to  many 
amongst  us  that  humbling  question,  "  Were  there  not  ten 
cleansed,  but  where  are  the  nine?"  10 

l  Acts  xvii.  26.     1  Tim.  ii.  1—4.  2  Psalm  Ixvii.  1,  2. 

3  Psalm  cxxii.  6—9.  4  Eph.  iv,2L 

5  John  xiv.  16,  17 ;  xvi.  13.     Rom.  viii.  14.     1  John  ii.  18—27. 

6  Eph.  iv.  1—3,  15.  1  Tim.  iii.  9.  2  Tim.  ii-  19.  Wheatly  informs  us  that 
other  petitions,  for  particular  objects,  originally  preceded  the  "  finally," 
which  now  appears  rather  out  of  place. 

7  Heb.  xii.  3.    Comp.  Rom.  xii.  15.     1  Cor  xii.  25—27. 

8  James  v.  16.  9  2  Cor.  i.  11.  lo  Luke  xvii.  17. 


72  THE    DAILY    SERVICE. 

GENERAL    THANKSGIVING. 

The  General  Thanksgiving,  as  its  name  imports,  acknow- 
ledges the  mercies  of  God  not  only  to  ourselves,  but  to  all 
men  ;  even  those  who  know  not  how  to  return  thanks  for 
themselves,  being  unacquainted  with  the  Saviour,  the  only 
way  of  communication  between  the  Divine  Being  and  his 
fallen  creatures.  For  "  the  Lord  is  good  to  all,  and  his 
tender  mercies  are  over  all  his  works." '  Surely  it  is 
comely  to  praise  God  "  the  Father  of  mercies,  and  the  God 
of  all  comfort ;" 2  not  only  for  "  all  the  blessings  of  this 
life,"  in  which  his  "  Goodness  and  loving  kindness  "  daily 
and  hourly  appear ;  "  but,  above  all,  for  that  inestimable 
love "  displayed  "  in  the  redemption  of  the  world  by  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  for  the  means  of  grace  "  here,  "  and 
for  the  hope  of  glory  "  hereafter.3  What  a  comprehensive 
summary  of  Divine  mercies,  all  centering  and  completed  in 
the  person  and  work  of  our  incarnate  Emmanuel ;  without 
whose  redeeming  love  no  earthly  benefits  can  do  us  good, 
or  excite  our  grateful  praise  ! 4  And,  considering  our  prone- 
ness  to  forget  the  Author  of  our  blessings,  how  suitable  is 
the  prayer  which  follows  : — "  We  beseech  thee,  give  us  that 
due  sense  of  all  thy  mercies,  that  our  hearts  may  be  un- 
feignedly  thankful."5  And,  lest  we  should  suppose,  that 
when  we  have  joined  in  the  language  of  thanksgiving,  we 
have  done  all  that  is  required  of  us;  we  further  pray,  that 
we  may  be  enabled  to  "  shew  forth  God's  praise  not  only 
with  our  lips,  but  in  our  lives  ;  by  giving  up  ourselves  to  his 
service,  and  walking  before  him  in  holiness  and  righteous- 
ness all  our  days."  6 

Here  let  us  pause  to  observe,  that  in  these  forms,  and 
especially  in  the  two  last,  we  are  evidently  supposed  to  be 
sincere  in  our  profession  of  religion,  and  devout  in  its  exer- 

1  Psalm  cxlv.  9.    Comp.  1  Tim.  ii.  L  2  2  Cor.  i.  3. 

?  Psalm  ciii.  1—5.     Eph.  i.  3.    Col.  i.  12—14,  27.     1  Peter  i  3,  4. 
4  John  i.  16.    2  Cor  ix.  15.  5  Psalm  cxix.  7. 

o  Rom-  xii.  1.  "  That  we  shew"  seems  to  be  an  error  of  the  press ;  old 
editions  having  "  that  we  may  shew." 


GENEItAL    THANKSGIVING.  73 

cise.  We  must  ourselves  have  experienced  something  of 
the  life  and  power  of  it  in  our  own  souls,  before  we  can 
consistently  pray  that  others  may  partake  of  it :  or  can 
give  God  our  "  humble  and  hearty  thanks  "  for  his  love  to 
us  and  our  fellow  creatures.  How,  on  any  other  ground, 
than  that  of  true  repentance  and  lively  faith,  can  we  speak 
with  meaning  of  "  loving  kindness,"  which  otherwise  we 
have  never  felt,  of  "  means  of  grace  "  which  we  have  never 
valued,  or  of  "  the  hope  of  glory  "  which  we  have  never 
realized  or  enjoyed  1  This  is,  indeed,  a  solemn  considera- 
tion, and  should  suggest  the  deepest  and  closest  self-exami- 
nation. We  may  easily  mock  God,  and  become  confirmed 
hypocrites  in  our  acts  of  religious  worship,  before  we  are 
well  aware  of  our  danger.  But  how  offensive  to  a  holy 
and  heart-searching  God  must  such  profane  mockery  be  ! 
Let  us,  then,  seek  earnestly  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to 
enable  us  to  "  worship  God  in  spirit  and  in  truth,"  '  for 
"  the  Father  seeketh  such,"  and  such  only,  "  to  worship 
him."2 

The  above  remarks  are  equally  applicable  to  "  the  prayer 
of  St.  Chrysostom,"  taken  out  of  his  Liturgy,3  which  closes 
our  daily  supplications.  Here  we  acknowledge  the  assist- 
ance of  Divine  grace 4  in  having  been  enabled  "  with  one 
accord  to  make  our  common  "  or  united  prayer :  language 
which  must  condemn  those  who  have  been  careless  and 
inattentive  during  the  greater  part  of  the  service.  We  then 
remind  the  Lord  Jesus  (for  to  him  this  Collect  seems  espe- 
cially addressed,  though  not,  perhaps,  exclusively)  of  his 
gracious  promise  that  "  when  two  or  three  are  gathered 
together  in  his  name,  he  will  be  in  the  midst  of  them  ;"  and 
give  them  this  assurance  of  his  presence  and  communion, 
by  "  granting  their  requests." 5 

How  comforting  the  persuasion  !  As  a  devout  writer 
has  well  observed : — "  Perhaps  we  are  but  few  at  Common 

l   1  John  iv.  24.  2  Verse  23.  3  Composed  about  A-  D.  400. 

*  Heb.  xii.  28. 

s  Matt,  xxviii.  19,  20.     1  John  v.  14,  15.    Comp.  Exod-  xx  24 

7 


74  THE    DAILY    SERVICE. 

Prayer ;  but  since  we  come  as  his  disciples,  to  ask  in  his 
name  alone,  we  are  sure  that  Jesus  is  among  us,  and  hears 
our  prayers.  And,  oh !  whom  would  it  not  move  to  lay 
aside  all  needless  impediments,  and  come  to  prayers,  when 
we  are  sure  to  meet  the  Lord  Jesus  there?"  '  Having  this 
confidence  towards  God,  we  humbly,  yet  earnestly,  plead 
for  the  fulfilment  of  his  promises,  "  as  may  be  most  expe- 
dient for  us." 2  We  leave  to  his  supreme  wisdom  and 
sovereign  will,  to  determine  how  far  our  particular  requests 
are  suitable  to  be  answered ;  knowing  that  he  will  "  regard 
the  hinge  of  our  desire  ;" 3  and  that  all  will  be  well  with  us 
for  time  and  for  eternity,  so  long  as  we  obtain  infallibly 
"  the  knowledge  of  his  truth  in  this  world,  and  in  the  world 
to  come  life  everlasting."  4 

The  whole  service  concludes  with  a  benedictory  prayer, 
taken  from  Scripture,  which  well  supplies  the  place  of  the 
solemn  blessing  pronounced  of  old  by  the  High  Priest, 
before  the  congregation  of  the  children  of  Israel  was  dis- 
missed.5 How  much  is  contained  in  these  sacred  words,  too 
often  heard  and  repeated  with  scarcely  any  sense  of  their  im- 
port !  "  The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ !" — all  that  we 
receive  from  the  Father  through  him ;  the  gift  of  justification 
and  sanctification ;  the  fruit  of  his  life,  death,  resurrection, 
and  intercession ;  the  merit  of  his  atoning  blood,  and  imputed 
righteousness. — "  The  love  of  God  ;" — all  that  peculiar 
favour  and  regard  which  is  bestowed  upon  the  "  elect  peo- 
ple of  God,"  6  his  adopted  children,  whom  he  has  "  chosen 
before  the  world," 7  to  be  the  objects  of  his  love  and  care  to 
all  eternity  ;  to  love,  serve,  and  enjoy  him  for  ever. —  "  The 

i  Dean  Comber.  2  Matt.  xxvi.  39.    1  John  v.  14,  15. 

3  '•  Tu  alte  consulens,  et  exaudiens  cardinem  desiderii  ejus."  Aug.  Con. 
1.  v.  c.  a    Comp.  2  Cor.  xii.  8,  9.  <*   i  Tim.  ii.  8.     Rom.  vi.  23. 

5  Comp.  2  Cor.  xiii.  14.  with  Numb.  vi.  23 — 27.  Wheatley  well  remarks 
that  this  is  a  Prayer  rather  than  a  Blessing ;  and  so  it  is  termed  in  the 
Rubric  before  the  Prayer  for  the  Queen.  Bishop  Sparrow  maintains  the 
opposite  view;  but  he  confounds  it  with  the  Benediction  at  the  end  of  the 
Communion  office.  We  may  add  that  the  words  of  the  text  are  changed, 
from  the  second  person,  to  the  frst,  to  give  it  the  form  of  a  prayer. 

6  Catechism.  7  Eph.  i.  4. 


BENEDICTORY    PRAYER.  75 

fellowship  of  the  Holy  Ghost;" — all  the  illuminating,  sanc- 
tifying, comforting,  and  sustaining  influences  of  the  Holy 
Spirit ;  without  whom  we  can  neither  pray  aright,  profit  by 
the  word  preached  and  heard,  nor  carry  into  practice  and 
real  life,  the  impressions  of  duty  made  upon  our  minds  in 
the  season  of  religious  worship.  To  the  Father,  therefore, 
the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  one  God  of  the  Bible, 
into  whose  Triune  name  we  were  baptized,1  and  by  whose 
power  and  conjoint  operation  we  are  saved,  the  Church 
solemnly  commends  us  and  each  of  her  children.  May  we 
all  lay  up  this  sacred  blessing  in  our  hearts,  and  abide 
under  its  influence  !  May  the  "  shadow  of  the  Almighty  "2 
overspread  and  rest  upon  our  souls  ?  And  may  we  thus  be 
enabled  to  live  in  constant  communion  with  the  Father, 
through  the  Son,  and  by  the  Holy  Spirit ; 3  and  in  the  exer- 
cise of  Christian  love  one  towards  another ! 

1  Matt,  xxviii-  19.  "  in  (he  name,"  «j  T6  Svo/ta- 

2  Psalm  xci.  1.  s  Eph.  ii.  18. 


APPENDIX. 


A.     [page  48.] 

It  appears  from  a  notice  prefixed  to  the  Prayer-Book,  that  our 
Church  designed  this  service  to  be  used  every  day  in  the  families 
of  the  Clergy,  if  not  publicly  in  the  Church,  unless  they  should 
be  hindered  by  "  sickness  or  some  other  urgent  cause."  i  It  may 
be  doubted  whether  it  is  practicable  to  restore  the  Daily  Public 
Worship  of  God,  in  every  Parish,  at  the  present  day :  but  it  is 
surely  to  be  lamented  that  the  Morning  service  is  now  so  very 
rarely  celebrated  during  the  week  ;  or,  at  least,  so  very  thinly 
attended.  Can  it  be  thought  that  the  invitation  to  "  hear  God's 
word,  and  to  pray  "  ~  with  the  minister,  is  so  slight  a  matter,  or 
so  unimportant  to  the  soul's  good,  that  "all,  with  one  consent, 
should  begin  to  make  excuse  ?"3 

Nor  is  the  plea  arising  from  want  of  time,  so  entirely  unex- 
ceptionable as  some  may,  at  first  sight,  suppose.  Bishop  Hooper, 
observing  the  greater  diligence  of  mass-going  Papists,  than  of 
prayer-going  Protestants,  in  his  time,  adds,  "  But  my  faith  is,  that 
both  master  and  servant  shall  find  the  advantage  they  gain  thereby 
at  the  year's  end,  though  they  hear  morning  sermon,  and  morning 
prayer  every  day  of  the  week." 4 

i  Preface  to  Prayer  Book.  George  Herbert  had  daily  Prayers  at  Bemer- 
ton,  morning  and  evening,  besides  his  Family  Prayers;  and  drew  the 
greater  part  of  his  Parishioners  to  accompany  him.  See  Life  prefixed  to 
Poems.    Camb.  1635.    Do.  by  I.  Walton,  and  "  Country  Parson." 

2  Preface.  3  Luke  xiv.  18. 

4  Father's  of  English  Reformation,  Vol.  v.  211.  '"T  is  the  fashion  now 
a  days  to  neglect  the  "  Prayers,"  when  there  is  no  Sermon  afterwards  ;  but 
there  is  a  grievous  mistake  here."  Crowdy's  Village  Dialogues,  p.  51.  pub- 
lished by  Nisbet.  A  valuable  work  for  circulation,  notwithstanding  some 
bitterness  against  Dissenters,  which  lessens  its  usefulness. 
76 


APPENDIX.  77 

At  the  same  time,  since  it  is  evident,  that  a  large  majority  of 
the  people  are  "  reasonably  hindered  "  from  a  regular  attendance 
at  the  usual  hours  of  public  worship  ;  it  is  highly  desirable  that 
week  day  evening  services  should  be  regularly  frequented  by  in- 
creasing numbers  of  the  community  ;  and  this  attendance  is  one 
of  the  best  proofs  of  a  really  healthy  state  of  spiritual  feeling, 
and  earnestness  of  mind  in  the  service  of  God :  as  it  is  an  indi- 
cation, however  imperfect,  that  we  do  not  "  offer  to  the  Lord  that 
which  costs  us  nothing."1 

But  as  all  cannot  attend  public  worship,  and  as  the  daily  ser- 
vice is  too  long  to  be  used  in  private  by  those  who  have  many 
urgent  engagements  to  occupy  their  time ;  it  may  be  acceptable 
to  some  of  our  readers,  to  be  reminded  that  other  forms  of  Pra)^er 
have  been  published  by  Royal  authority,2  and  recommended  to 
the  use  of  members  of  the  Church  of  England  "in  private 
houses."  And  although,  through  change  of  circumstances,  and 
antiquity  of  style,  they  may  not  be  considered  altogether  suitable 
to  modern  times  ;  yet  the  scriptural  simplicity,  humble  assur- 
ance, and  fervent  piety  which  pervade  these  compositions,  can- 
not fail,  we  hope,  to  make  them  interesting  and  helpful  to  spiritu- 
ally-minded Christians. 

As  it  would  take  up  too  much  room  to  quote  these  Prayers  at 
full,  we  merely  add  one  as  an  example,  directing  the  Reader  in 
the  Note  to  the  works  where  the  originals  may  be  found.3 

"A  Godly  Prater  to  he  said  at  all  Times." 
"  Honour  and  praise  be  given  to  thee,  O  Lord  God  Almighty, 
most  dear  Father  of  heaven,  for  all  thy  mercies  and  loving-kind- 
ness showed  unto  us,  in  that  it  hath  pleased  thy  gracious  good- 
ness, freely,  and  of  thine  own  accord,  to  elect  and  choose  us  to 
salvation,  before  the  beginning  of  the  world  ;  and  even  like  contin- 
ual thanks  be  given  to  thee  for  creating  us  after  thine  own  image, 
for  redeeming  us  with  the  precious  blood  of  thy  dear  Son  when 
we  were  utterly  lost,  for  sanctifying  us  with  thy  Holy  Spirit  in 
the  revelation  and  knowledge  of  thy  holy  word,  for  helping  and 
succouring  us  in  all  our  needs  and  necessities,  for  saving  us 

i  2  Sam.  xxiv.  24. 

2  This  must  be  limited  to  those  of  Edward  Vlth's  reign. 

3  Edward  Vlth's  Primer  contains  Prayer  for  private  use ;  but  the 
Prayers  specially  alluded  to,  are  found  at  the  end  of  the  Old  Version  of 
Psalms,  appe-nded  to  Barker's  and  Pitt's  Bibles.  The  two  latter  Prayers 
for  Evening,  "and  "  to" be  said  at  all  times,"  are  in  Bull's  Prayers,  Parker 
Society  Ed.  pp.  50,  147. 


78  APPENDIX. 

from  all  dangers  of  body  and  soul,  for  comforting  us  so  fatherly 
in  all  our  tribulations  and  persecutions,  for  sparing  us  so  long,  and 
giving  us  so  large  a  time  of  repentance.  These  benefits,  O  most 
merciful  Father,  like  as  we  acknowledge  to  have  received  them 
of  thy  only  goodness  ;  even  so  we  beseech  thee  for  thy  dear  Son 
Jesus  Christ's  sake,  grant  us  always  thy  Holy  Spirit,  that  we  may 
continually  grow  in  thankfulness  towards  thee,  to  be  led  in  all 
truth,  and  comforted  in  all  our  adversities.  O  Lord,  strengthen 
our  faith,  kindle  it  more  and  more  in  ferventness  and  love 
towards  thee,  and  our  neighbours  for  thy  sake.  Suffer  us  not, 
most  dear  Father,  to  receive  thy  word  any  more  in  vain :  but 
grant  us  always  the  assistance  of  thy  grace  and  Holy  Spirit,  that 
in  heart,  word,  and  deed,  we  may  sanctify  and  do  worship  to  thy 
name,  help  to  amplify  and  increase  thy  kingdom,  and  whatsoever 
thou  sendest,  we  may  be  heartily  well  content  with  thy  good  plea- 
sure and  will.  Let  us  not  lack  the  thing,  O  Father,  without  the 
which  we  cannot  serve  thee  ;  but  bless  thou  so  all  the  works  of 
our  hands,  that  we  may  have  sufficient,  and  not  be  chargeable, 
but  rather  helpful  to  others.  Be  merciful,  O  Lord,  to  our  offences  ; 
and  seeing  our  debt  is  great  which  thou  hast  forgiven  us  in  Jesus 
Christ,  make  us  to  love  thee,  and  our  neighbours  so  much  the 
more.  Be  thou  our  Father,  our  Captain,  and  Defender  in  all 
temptations,  hold  thou  us  by  thy  merciful  hand,  that  we  may  be 
delivered  from  all  inconveniences,  and  end  our  lives  in  the  sanc- 
tifying and  honour  of  thy  holy  name,  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord  and  only  Saviour.  So  be  it.  Let  thy  mighty  hand  and  out- 
stretched arm,  0  Lord,  be  still  our  defence ;  thy  mercy  and  loving- 
kindness  in  Jesus  Christ  thy  dear  Son,  our  salvation ;  thy  true 
and  holy  word,  our  instruction  ;  thy  grace  and  Holy  Sprit,  our 
comfort  and  consolation,  unto  the  end,  and  in  the  end.  So  be  it. 
O  Lord,  increase  our  faith."  [This  note,  although  not  applicable 
to  our  Church,  is  retained,  as  a  fuller  explanation  of  our  Author's 
views,  than  the  text  affords.] 

B.     [page  50.] 

The  "  Rubrics "  are  so  called,  because  such  notices  were 
written  in  the  old  service  books  in  red  letters.  It  is  important 
that  the  directions  which  they  contain  should  be  duly  attended  to 
by  the  congregation,  as  well  as  the  minister;  not  only  for  the 
sake  of  preserving  a  becoming  order  and  regularity  in  the  wor- 
ship of  God,  but  also  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  up  the  spirit  of 
the  service  in  our  own  minds  ;  which  are  often  more  influenced 
by  these   outward,  and  apparently  trifling   circumstances,  than 


APPENDIX.  79 

many  are  aware.  For,  while  a  merely  formal  observance  of 
the  letter  of  Divine  ordinances,  and  resting  in  outward  rites, 
is  hateful  hypocrisy,  or  gross  superstition,  a  delusion  most  dili- 
gently to  be  guarded  against ;  yet  a  careless  irreverence  of  be- 
haviour, or  a  slothful  negligence  of  spirit  and  demeanor,  are  alike 
disgraceful  to  our  religious  profession,  and  injurious  both  to  our- 
selves and  our  fellow-worshippers. 

At  the  same  time,  to  avoid  mistake  and  dangerous  misconstruc- 
tion, the  writer  would  observe,  that  a  servile  adherence  to  the 
letter  of  the  Rubric,  when  superseded  by  established  and  recog- 
nized ecclesiastical  custom,  is  the  very  worst  way  of  attaining 
the  spirit  of  the  appointment ; — the  end  of  which  is  well  ex- 
pressed in  the  Apostolic  rules — "  Let  all  things  be  done  to  edify- 
ing— decently,  and  in  order."1 

C.  [page  53.] 

Augustine  asks,  "  How  can  they  say  J  Our  Father,'  who  are  not 
yet  born!"  (De  Symbolo,  §  15.)  So  also  Theodoret, "  This  prayer 
we  do  not  teach  the  uninitiated,  but  the  initiated  (baptized.)  For 
no  uninitiated  person  can  dare  to  say,'  Our  Father,'  not  having  yet 
received  the  gift  of  adoption.  But  he  who  has  obtained  the  gift 
of  Baptism  calls  God  Father,  as  being  accounted  among  the  sons 
by  grace."  (Ep.  82.)  So  also  Chrysost.  (Horn.  xx.  in  Matt,  and 
Horn.  ii.  in  2  Cor.  See  Bingham's  Antiq.  B.  x.  c.  v.  This  was, 
no  doubt,  an  early  corruption  of  the  Scriptural  truth  that  the  lan- 
guage of  child-like  confidence  can  only  be  used  by  those  who  are 
reconciled  to  God  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  have  received  the  pardon 
of  sin,  of  which  Baptism  is  a  pledge. 

D.  [page  58.] 

A  correction  must  be  made  on  account  of  the  Apocrypha,  out 
of  which  the  First  Lessons  are  taken,  on  the  week-days,  during  a 
part  of  the  year.  Sincerely  does  the  writer  desire  to  have  this 
blemish  removed  from  our  service : — for,  although  it  be  admitted 
that  some  parts  of  these  writings  are  well  worthy  of  study ;  yet 
none  of  their  contents  ought  to  be  placed  on  a  level  (even  by  im- 
plication) with  the  Word  of  God.  See  Article  VI.  With  respect 
to  the  Proper  Lessons  a  degree  of  discretionary  power  seems  to 
be  lodged  with  the  minister,  which  may  be  exercised,  with  much 
advantage,  in  substituting  the  Canonical  Scriptures  for  the  Apo- 
cryphal book.     See  Admonition  to  the  second  Book  of  Homilies. 

i  1  Cor.  xiv.  26,  40. 


BO  APPENDIX. 

Also  Apb.  Abbott's  judgment  on  this  matter,  in  Strype's  Annals, 
Vol.  i.  p.  402. 

By  the  unhappy  introduction  of  the  Apocrypha  into  the  daily 
lessons,  in  conformity  with  ancient  usage,  several  interesting  and 
valuable  portions  of  inspired  Scripture  have  been  excluded.  We 
may  just  mention,  the  second  book  of  Chronicles,  so  replete  with 
historical  interest,  and  spiritual  instruction  ;  and  a  large  part  of 
the  sublime  and  evangelical  prophecy  of  Ezekiel.  Surely  the 
restoration  of  these  precious  fragments  of  Divine  truth  to  their 
place  in  the  annual  course,  would  be  a  Reform,  most  devoutly  to 
be  wished  for,  and  most  easily  accomplished. 

E.  [page  60.] 

Only  some  parts  of  the  Revelations  are  read  on  the  saints' 
days,  and  in  the  Epistles.  Might  not  this  deeply  interesting, 
though  deeply  mysterious  book,  on  the  perusal  of  which  a 
peculiar  blessing  is  promised  to  attend,1  be  introduced,  with 
much  propriety,  during  the  season  of  Advent  1* 

F.  [page  64.] 

The  Creed,  though  not  a  prayer,  may  very  profitably  be  used  at 
our  daily  devotions.  Thus  it  was  extensively  employed,  not  only 
by  the  ancient  Church,  but  by  the  Reformers.  Augustine  thus 
recommends  it  to  his  candidates  for  baptism.  "  Call  your  faith 
to  mind,  look  into  }rourself : — let  your  Creed  be  like  a  looking- 
glass  to  you.  See  yourself  there,  whether  you  believe  all  that 
you  profess  to  believe,  and  rejoice  daily  in  your  faith.  Let  this 
be  your  riches,  the  daily  clothing  of  your  mind.  Do  you  not 
dress  yourself  when  you  arise  1  So  by  recollecting  your  Creed, 
clothe  your  mind,  lest  forgetfulness  uncover  it,  and  you  remain 
naked.  We  are  clothed  with  our  faith.  Faith  is  both  clothing 
and  armour.  A  coat  to  cover  us  from  shame,  a  coat  of  mail  to 
protect  us  against  adversity."  (Serm.  lviii.  ad  competentes.)  See 
Bp.  Sparrow's  Rationale  for  some  lively  and  pertinent  observa- 
tions on  the  believer's  daily  use  of  the  Creed. 

G.  [page  64.] 

In  repeating  the  Creed  we  stand  "by  this  gesture  signifying 
our  readiness  to  profess,  and  our  resolution  to  adhere  and  stand 

1  Rev.  i.  3. 

2  The  Council  of  Toledo,  a  d-  633,  appoints  the  Apocalypse  to  be  read 
between  Easter  and  Pentecost.    Bingham,  xiv.  iii.  3. 


APPENDIX.  HI 

to  this  holy  faith."  (Bp.  Sparrow.)  It  is  repeated  by  the  people 
along  with  the  minister,  to  intimate  that  it  is  every  one's  profes- 
sion made  before  God  and  his  Church. 

The  custom  of  repeating  the  Creed  with  the  face  towards  the 
East,  though  defended  by  respectable  authors,  appears  to  be  of 
very  doubtful  origin.  The  ancient  Christians  were,  indeed,  in 
the  habit  of  praying  with  their  faces  towards  the  East;1  as  did 
the  heathen  also:3  and  the  holy  places  in  the  heathen  tem- 
ples were  situated  towards  that  quarter ; — an  instance  of  which 
may  still  be  seen  in  a  Druidical  temple  near  Keswick.  But 
this  idea  of  superior  sanctity  belonging  to  that  quarter  of  the 
heavens,  is  not  only  unwarranted  by  Scripture,  but  decidedly 
opposed  to  the  spirit  of  our  blessed  Lord's  decision  in  a  similar 
case:3  and  we  may  add,  that  it  is  the  reverse  of  the  authorized 
practice  of  God's  ancient  people  ; — who  were  commanded  to  turn 
their  backs  upon  the  East  in  their  solemn  worship."4 

H.  *  [page  65.] 

By  substituting  the  word  bpoiovatov  "  of  a  similar  substance,"  for 
bpoovaiov  "of  the  same  substance,"  the  Arians  attempted  by  "the 
subtle  introduction  of  but  one  jot  of  written  error,  to  let  in  the 
whole  alphabet  of  heresy." 

Archbishop  Seeker  observes,  that  "  the  words  '  Light  of  Light,' 
intimating  that  the  Divine  nature  of  Christ  is  from  the  Father 
(Heb.  i.  3,)  as  light  is  from  the  sun,  or  as  one  light,  without  dimi- 
nution of  itself,  kindles  another,  were  intended  for  some  imper- 
fect illustration,  (and  doubtless  a  very  imperfect  one  it  is,  and 
any  other  must  be,)  of  his  mysterious  generation." 

The  articles  of  this  Creed,  from  "  whose  kingdom,  &c."  to  the 
end  (excepting  the  words,  "I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost,")  were 
added  to  it  by  the  authority  of  the  second  general  council  at  Con- 
stantinople, A.  D.  381, 5  chiefly  intended  to  meet  the  heresy  of 
the  Macedonians,  who  denied  the  Divinity  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
(Hooker  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  52.)  But  the  expression,  "  and  from  the 
Son"  was  not  inserted  till  the  middle  of  the  Fifth  Century,  by 
the  Western  Church  ;  and  was  the  unhappy  occasion  of  the 
schism  between  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches." 

i  Tertullian,  Apol.  c.  16.  Clem.  Alex.  Strom.  7.  Orig.  DeOrat.  Dom.  21. 
Quest,  ad  Orthod.  Resp.  1118. 

~  Virg.  JEn.  viii.  68,  69,  and  Adam's  Rom.  Antiq. 

3  John  iv.  20—24. 

4  Ezek.  viii.  16.    See  Rev.  T.  Scott's  excellent  comment  on  this  place. 

5  See  Archbishop  Usher,  De  tribus  symbolis. 


82  APPENDIX. 

The  words  "  Lord,  and  giver  of  life,"  tov  Kipiov  ko.\  Jokwojoi.-,  seem 
taken  from  2  Cor.  iii.  18,  and  6,  and  express  two  different  attri- 
butes of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

I.     [page  65.] 

"'Let  us  pray  /' — These  words  are  often  used  in  ancient  Litur- 
gies, and  are  an  excitation  to  prayer,  to  call  back  our  wandering, 
and  recollect  our  scattered  thoughts,  and  to  awaken  our  devotion, 
bidding  us  mind  what  we  are  about :  namely,  now  when  we  are 
about  to  pray,  to  pray  indeed,  that  is,  heartily  and  earnestly.  The 
Deacon  in  ancient  services  was  wont  to  call  upon  the  people 
often  «rei/eof  hriBuntv,  *  Let  us  pray  more  vehemently  „•'  nay,  tKTtviartpov, 
*  still  more  vehemently?  And  there  is  none  of  us  but  must  think 
it  needful  thus  to  be  called  upon  and  awakened  ;  for  thoughts  will 
be  wandering,  and  devotions  will  abate  and  scarce  bold  out  to  the 
prayer's  end,  though  it  be  a  short  one  ;  so  that  well  said  the  old 
hermit,  (whom  Melancthon  mentions  in  his  discourse  on  Prayer,) 
'  Tliere  is  nothing  harder  than  to  pray?  " — Bp.  Sparrow's  Rationale. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


THE    LITANY. 


The  use  of  a  "  Litany,"  or  "  general  supplication,"  has  pre- 
vailed in  the  Church  from  the  earliest  ages.1  Originally  in- 
tended for  seasons  of  special  calamity,  it  grew  up  into  a 
regular  form  of  public  worship,  and  as  such,  was  adopted 
by  our  Reformers ;  not  indeed,  as  now  is  usual,  to  be  added 
to  the  Morning  Prayer,  but  designed  to  be  used  on  Sundays, 
Wednesdays,  and  Fridays,  at  some  intermediate  time  be- 
tween the  Morning  and  Evening  services.2 

Whether  we  consider  the  spirituality,  variety,  or  com- 
prehensiveness of  its  petitions,  the  Litany  must  be  allowed  to 
stand  in  "the  very  first  rank  of  uninspired  compositions."3 
Where,  indeed,  can  a  prayer  be  found,  all  things  considered, 
like  this?  Rich  in  scriptural  allusion,  deep  in  religious 
truth,  full  of  Divine  unction  and  power ;  earnest,  impas- 
sioned, and  importunate ;  yet  chastised,  simple,  and  modest 
in  its  language ;  and  beautifully  combining  filial  confidence 
with  reverential  awe ;  this  unrivalled  form  of  prayer  has 
ever  been  dear  to  the  hearts  of  pious  Episcopalians,4  whose 

l  See  Hooker's  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  41.  The  Litany  of  Gregory  the  Great,  from 
which  ours  is  principally  drawn,  is  about  1250  years  old.  The  Latin 
Litanies  are  full  of  Invocation  of  Saints  ;  and  have  been  so  ever  since  the 
eighth  century. — Palmer.  2  See  Appendix  A.  3  R.  Hall. 

4  When  George  Herbert  on  his  death-bed.  was  asked  by  a  Clergyman, 
whom  he  requested  to  pray  with  him,  "  What  prayers  he  should  offer  up 
with  him?"  His  answer  was,  "O,  sir,  the  prayers  of  my  mother,  the 
Church  of  England;  no  other  prayers  are  equal  to  them.  But  at  this 
time,  I  beg  of  you  to  pray  only  the  Litany,  for  I  am  weak  and  faint." — 
Life  by  I.  Walton. 

The  follower  of  Jesus  will  not  disdain  the  testimony  of  one  of  his 
"little  ones,"   in  addition  to  that  of  the   illustrious  Herbert;   and  will 

(63) 


84  THE    INVOCATION. 

earliest  associations  of  sacredness  have  gathered  around  it, 
and  who  have  here  found  a  response  to  every  awakened 
feeling,  and  an  echo  to  every  longing  desire  of  their  prayer- 
ful souls. 

The  Litany  may  be  regarded  as  consisting  of  four  parts, 
— Invocation,  Deprecation,  Intercession,  and  Supplication. 
In  the  first,  we  address  the  Three  Persons  of  the  blessed 
Trinity  separately  and  together.  This  method  has  no  exact 
model  in  the  Scriptures ;  but  although  we  are  taught  generally 
to  address  our  prayers  to  the  Father,  through  the  Son,  and  by 
the  Holy  Spirit ; l  yet  we  are  not  without  many  instances  in 
the  Word  of  God,  of  acts  of  worship  addressed  to  God  the 
Son,2  and  some  also  to  God  the  Holy  Ghost.3  Besides,  as 
we  are  here  addressing  God  as  "  miserable  sinners,"  and 
imploring  the  Divine  mercy  in  that  character,  there  is  a  pe- 
culiar appropriateness  in  this  solemn  application  to  each  per- 
son separately  ;  inasmuch  as  we  have  not  only  sinned  against 
our  "  Heavenly  Father's"  laws,  but  have  slighted  our  Re- 
deemer's love,4  and  "  grieved"  if  not  "  done  despite  to  the 
Spirit  of  grace."5 

Then  follows  the  second  part  of  the  Litany,  which  con- 
sists of  Deprecation,  or  prayer  for  deliverance  from  evil. 
Each  petition,  along  with  the  following  response,  forms  a 
separate  prayer,  in  which  we  are  called  upon  to  join.     The 

observe  in  the  child  of  seven  years  old,  the  same  simplicity  of  mind,  and 
soundness  of  spiritual  judgment  which  distinguished  that  truly  Christian 
poet  "I  do  love,"  said  she,  "the  service  of  the  Church;  no  prayers 
express  my  heart  so  well."  This  was  with  special  reference  to  that  pe- 
tition in  the  Litany,  "  Have  mercy  on  us,  miserable  sinners,"  which  she 
remarked,  "  particularly  suited  her." — Memoir  of  Louisa  W.  Mortlock,  by 
her  father.    London,  1837, 

i  John  xiv.  6 ;  xvi.  23,  24.  Rom.  v.  2 ;  viii.  15,  26.  Gal.  iv.  6.  Eph. 
ii.  18.    Heb.  iv.  15,  16 ;  x.  19,  20. 

2  John  xx.  28.  Comp.  v.  23.  Acts  vii.  59,  60;  ix.  14.  1  Cor  i.  2. 
2  Cor.  xii.  8,  9. 

3  Ezek.  xxxvii.  9.  Rev.  i.  4,  5.  On  Prayer  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  see  some 
valuable  practical  remarks  in  Mary  Jane  Graham's  Memoir,  by  the  Rev. 
C.  Bridges,  pp  140—151.  *  Heb.  vi.  6;  x.  29. 

5  Eph.  iv.  30.    Heb.  x.  29. 


DEPRECATION.  85 

first,  "  Remember  not,  Lord,  our  offences,"  &c.  in  Scriptu- 
ral language,1  earnestly  pleads  for  God's  mercy,  (on  the 
ground  of  His  redeeming  love,)  and  exemption  from  his  just 
displeasure.  This  is  followed  by  a  variety  of  petitions 
against  all  manner  of  evil  whether  temporal  or  spiritual. 
"  The  crafts  and  assaults  of  the  devil,"  "  all  blindness  of 
heart ;  pride,  vain-glory,  and  hypocrisy ;  envy,  hatred,  and 
malice,  all  uncharitableness,2  &c.  &c."  Such  are  a  few  of 
the  soul's  dangers  here  deprecated.  Nor  is  the  safety  of  the 
body  overlooked,  nor  are  the  interests  of  our  fellow-crea- 
tures forgotten.  We  pray  also  to  be  delivered  "  from  light- 
ning and  tempest,  from  plague,  pestilence,  and  famine  ;  from 
battle  and  murder,  and  sudden  death ;  from  all  sedition, 
privy  conspiracy,  and  rebellion;3  from  all  false  doctrine, 
&c.  &c. :"  where  again  we  return  to  spiritual  dangers,  aris- 
ing from  and  connected  with  outward  disorders ;  "  heresy, 
and  schism,  hardness  of  heart,  and  contempt  of  God's  word 
and  commandment."  These  evils,  we  may  observe,  it  was 
never  more  needful  to  watch  and  pray  against  than  in  the 
present  day. 

Some  have  objected  to  the  petition  against  "  sudden  death," 
on  the  ground,  that  to  the  true  Christian  "  to  die  is  gain." 4 
But,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind,  that,  however  much  we  may 
"desire  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ,"5  which,  to  the  real 

i  Psalm  Ixxix.  5,  8.  Marg.  Joel  ii.  17.  From  that  divinely  appointed 
Litany,  where  "  the  Priests,  the  ministers  of  the  Lord,"  were  commanded 
to  "  weep  between  the  porch  and  the  altar."  In  allusion  to  which,  our 
Litany  was  anciently  enjoined  to  be  "  said  in  the  midst  of  the  Church,  at 
a  low  desk,  called  the  '  Fall'd-stool,'"  (Wheatly)  as  is  still  done  in 
Cathedrals. 

2  It  is  instructive  to  notice  the  order  and  connection  in  this  petition : 
"  blindness  of  heart,"  and  ignorance  of  ourselves,  leading  to  "  pride,  vain- 
glory, ar.d  hypocrisy;"  and  these,  again,  breaking  out  into  envy,  hatred, 
malice,  and  uncharitableness." 

3  In  Edward  the  Sixth's  Prayer-books,  this  suffrage  was  as  follows : — 
"  From  all  sedition  and  privy  conspiracy,  from  the  tyranny  of  the  Bishop  of 
Rome  and  all  his  detestable  enormities,  from  all  false  doctrine  and  heresy, 
from  hardness  of  heart,"  &c.  The  petition  against  Popery  was  dropped  in 
Queen  Elizabeth's  reign;  those  against  "rebellion"  and  "schism"  were 
added  after  the  Restoration. 

4  Phil.  i.  21.  5  Phil.  i.  23. 


86  SUDDEN    DEATH. 

believer,  is  an  event  devoutly  to  be  wished  for  in  God's  good 
time ; — yet,  in  general,  nature  shrinks  from  a  sudden  sepa- 
ration, and  we  must  be  conscious  that  much  remains  to  be 
done,  both  for  ourselves  and  others ;  so  that  we  may  well 
adopt  the  prayer  of  the  Psalmist,  as  applicable,  though  not 
exclusively  or  primarily,  to  this  occasion ; — "  O  my  God, 
take  me  not  away  in  the  midst  of  my  days  ;" ' — remove  me 
not  before  the  work  of  grace  is  complete  in  my  soul,  and 
without  giving  me  an  opportunity  of  glorifying  thee  in  a 
dying  hour ;  or  by  any  awful  stroke  of  sudden  judgment, 
such  as  my  sins  may  justly  call  down  upon  me.2 

As  we  draw  towards  the  close  of  this  second  part  of  the 
Litany,  we  address  ourselves  immediately  to  Christ.  "  By 
the  mystery  of  thy  holy  Incarnation,  3  &c."  The  fervour 
of  the  Deprecation  swells  and  deepens  as  we  advance.  Can 
anything  surpass  the  earnest  simplicity,  powerful  energy, 
touching  beauty,  and  devout  spirituality  of  those  thrilling 
words, — "  By  thine  Agony  and  Bloody  Sweat,  by  thy  Cross 
and  Passion ;  by  thy  precious  Death  and  Burial ;  by  thy 
glorious  Resurrection  and  Ascension ;  and  by  the  coming 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  Good  Lord,  deliver  us.  In  all  time  of 
our  tribulation ;  in  all  time  of  our  prosperity  in  the  hour 
of  death,  and  in  the  day  of  judgment,  Good  Lord,  de- 
liver us  ?"  Many  are  ready  to  seek  God  in  a  "  time  of  tri- 
bulation ;"4  but  kw,  comparatively,  consider  the  dangers  and 
temptations  of  a  time  of  prosperity.  Yet,  then  it  is  that  we 
are  peculiarly  in  need  of  Divine  protection  and  guidance. 
When  "  Jeshurun,"  (the  upright  one,)  "  waxed  fat,  he 
kicked.  Then  he  forsook  God  which  made  him,  and  lightly 
esteemed  the  Rock  of  his  salvation." 6  We  pray,  therefore, 
that  we  may  so  live,  as  not  to  be  afraid  to  die.     That  our 

l  Psalm  cii.  24. 

~  2  Sam.  vi.  7.    See  Hooker,  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  46. 

3  [The  entire  Litany,  with  the  exception  of  the  first  four  petitions,  would 
seem  to  be  addressed  to  the  "  good  Lord,"  who  had  "  redeemed  us  with  his 
most  precious  blood."  See  the  petition  beginning  "Spare  us,  good 
Lord,"  &c  ] 

4  Isaiah  xxvi  16.    Hosea  v.  15,  5  Deut.  xxxii.  15. 


INTERCESSION.  87 

"  latter  end"  may  be  with  "  the  righteous," '  and  we  may- 
find  mercy  of  the  Lord  in  that  awful  day  of  judgment."2 

We  now  come  to  the  third  division  of  the  Litany,  as 
above  stated,  "  Intercession:"3  nor  can  we  help  observing 
how  large,  full,  and  comprehensive  is  the  summary  here 
afforded  us.  O  !  for  a  large  heart  to  meet  the  demand  thus 
made  upon  our  Christian  sympathy  and  benevolence.4  We 
want  the  spirit  of  that  great  and  glorious  Intercessor,  our 
compassionate  High  Priest,  who  "  can  be  touched  with  the 
feeling  of  our  infirmities,"5  to  enter  with  full  and  sustained 
energy  of  mind,  and  devotion  of  soul,  into  the  wide  field  of 
intercessory  prayer  thus  opened  before  us.  Well,  then, 
does  the  Church  here  direct  our  eyes  to  Him,  our  Pattern 
and  Example,  as  well  as  our  Patron  and  Advocate,  who  is 
"  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost,  seeing  He  ever  liveth  making 
intercession  for  us."6 

Confessing  our  guilt  and  unworthiness  as  "  sinners,"  we 
proceed  to  supplicate  Him  in  behalf  of  His  "  holy  Church 
universal,"  that  it  may  be  "  ruled  in  the  right  way,"  the 
way  of  sound  doctrine,  scriptural  discipline,  and  holy  living. 
From  this  general  head  we  advance  to  particulars.  Accord- 
ing to  Apostolic  precept,7  we  first  pray  for  all  Christian 
rulers  and  magistrates.  We  pray  also  that  the  ministers 
of  religion  maybe  enlightened,  faithful,  and  zealous  instruc- 
tors of  the  people ;  both  by  precept  and  example,  setting 
forth  the  truth  of  God's  Holy  Word  in  a  lively  and  edifying 
manner.8  For  all  God's  children  of  whatever  order  or 
rank  in  society  they  may  be  found.  In  short,  we  pray  for 
all  nations,  that  "  unity,  peace,  and  concord"  may  bind 
together  the  whole  human  family  in  brotherly  love,  and  the 
fellowship  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

Having  offered  up  these  prayers  for  others,  we  next  include 

i  Numb,  xxiii.  10.  2  2  Tim.  i.  18.  •"<  1  Tim.  ii.  1. 

4  2  Cor.  vi.  11.  5  Heb.  iv.  15.  6  Heb.  vii.  25. 

1  1  Tim.  ii.  2. 

8  Instead  of  the  words  "  Priests  and  Deacons/'  all  our  Prayer-Books,  be- 
fore the  last  Review,  had  "  Pastors  and  Ministers  of  the  Church."  The 
Scotch  Liturgy,  for  "  Priests"  had  "  Presbyters." 


88 


INTERCESSION. 


ourselves ;  and  implore  the  Divine  goodness  to  "  give  us 
a  heart  to  love  and  fear  God,  and  diligently  to  live  after 
His  commandments :"  for  godly  fear  cannot  fail  to  lead  to 
all  holy  obedience.1  We  pray  also  for  a  general  "  increase 
of  grace,"  by  the  fuller  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit,2  pro- 
ducing a  revival  of  true  religion,  and  manifested  by  an 
increased  attention  to  the  Word,3  "  receiving  it  with  pure 
affection,4  and  bringing  forth  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit."3  We 
are  next  led  to  intercede  for  such  as  "  have  erred  and  are 
deceived,"  by  false  doctrine,  or  corrupt  practices;6 — that 
they  may  be  "  brought  into  the  way  of  truth,"  by  repent- 
ance and  conversion.7  Then  follow  prayers  for  the  weak, 
that  they  may  be  strengthened  ;  for  the  distressed,  that  they 
may  be  comforted  ;  for  travellers  that  they  may  be  pre- 
served from  danger  ;  for  the  sick  (especially  for  those  who 
desire  our  prayers,)  young  children,  prisoners,  the  father- 
less and  widows,  and  all  the  sons  of  poverty  and  affliction. 
Finally,  we  pray  for  "  all  men,"s  that  they  may  partake  of 
the  mercy  of  God  both  here,  and  for  ever.  Nor  do  we 
omit  to  pray  for  our  "  enemies,"  according  to  our  Blessed 
Saviour's  direction,9  that  God  would  "  forgive  them,  and 
turn  their  hearts."  Having  added  a  petition  for  the  "  fruits 
of  the  earth,"  so  necessary  to  the  support  of  man  and  beast; 
we  sum  up  all  our  requests  for  spiritual  blessing  in  that 
comprehensive  prayer,  "  That  it  may  please  Thee  to  give 
us  true  repentance,  to  forgive  us  all  our  sins,  negligences, 
and  ignorances,  and  to  endue  us  with  the  grace  of  thy  Holy 
Spirit,  to  amend  our  lives  according  to  Thy  holy  Word." 
And  now,  as  if  the  Church  would  have  us  "  take  heaven 
by  force," 10  not  with  the  "  vain  repetitions"  of  formal  wor- 
ship," or  the  wild  and  fanatical  exclamations  of  blind  Idola- 
try ;12 — but  with  holy  boldness  and  earnest  importunity  : — 

I  Jer.  xxxii.  40.    Ezek.  xxxvi.  26,  27.  2  Joel  ii.  27.    Acts  ii.  17. 

3  Acts  ii.  37  ;  xvi.  14  4  Luke  x.  39.  James  i.  21.     1  Peter  ii.  2 

5  Mark  iv.  20.    Gal.  v.  22,  23.    Eph.  v.  9. 

6  1  Cor.  vi  9,  10.     1  John  v.  16.  "J  2  Tim.  ii.  25,  26. 
8  1  Tim.  ii.  1—4.                9  Matt.  v.  44.                  1  0  Matt,  xi,  13. 

I I  Matt.  vi.  7.  12  1  Kings  xviii.  26. 


the  lord's  prayer.  89 

one  petition  following  another,  like  troop  after  troop — armies 
of  prayers  and  tears — till  mercy's  gate  is  thrown  open,  and 
we  enter  in,  and  take  possession  of  the  kingdom.1 

And  here,  again  we  observe,  with  peculiar  fitness,  our 
attention  is  directed  to  the  "Captain  of  our  Salvation,"2  the 
"  Breaker  who  is  gone  up  before  us,"3  and  has  "  opened 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  all  believers." — "  O  Lamb  of 
God,  that  takest  away  the  sins  of  the  world,4  grant  us  thy 
peace.5  O  Lamb  of  God,  that  takest  away  the  sins  of  the 
world,  have  mercy  upon  us.6  O  Christ,  hear  us,  &c."7 
Concluding  with  that  shorter  Litany,  as  it  has  been  called, 
of  the  ancient  Church,  which  was  generally  understood  to 
be  addressed  to  the  Three  Persons  of  the  undivided  Trinity; 
— "  Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us.  Christ,  have  mercy  upon 
us.     Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us." 

The  Lord's  Prayer,  like  a  bright  jewel  in  the  centre  of  a 
circle  of  pearls,  now  gathers  up  our  petitions  in  one  knot, 
as  it  were;  and  fastens  them  as  with  "a  nail  in  a  sure 
place."8  This  perfect  form  of  prayer  is  ever  new,  sweet, 
and  refreshing  to  the  simple,  enlightened,  and  unprejudiced 
Christian.  It  presents  the  believer  with  a  warrant  for  his 
faith,  when  he  knows  that  he  "asks  according  to  His  will,"9 
who  both  taught  us  to  pray,  and  presents  our  prayers  with 
acceptance  to  the  Father.  It  collects  our  desires  in  their 
proper  order,  and  with  redoubled  force  ;  as  the  scattered 
rnysof  the  sun  are  collected  in  the  focus  of  a  burning-glass. 
We  feel  that  we  have  God  on  our  side,  who  "  helpeth  our 
infirmities,"10  and  who  pleads  on  our  behalf;  and  can  say 
with  His  holy  Apostle  Paul,  "  If  God  be  for  us,  who  can  be 
against  us?     He  that  spared  not  His  own  Son,  but  delivered 


l  "Coimus  in  coetum,  et  congregationem,  ut  Deum  quasi  manu  facta 

precationibus  ambiamus  orantes.  Hoec  vis  Deo  grata  est." — Tertullian, 
Apolog.  39.    Hooker,  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  24.  (1.) 

^  Heb.  ii.  10.  3  Mic.  ii.  13. 

4  John  i.  29.                    5  John  xiv.  27.  <>  Luke  xvii.  13. 

i  1  John  v.  It.                8  isaiah  xxii.  23.  9  1  John  v.  14. 

l  o  Rom.  viii.  26. 


8* 


90  RESPONSK9. 

him  up  for  us  all,  how  shall  He  not  with  hiin  also  freely 
give  us  all  things  I"1 

Again,  deprecating  God's  merited  displeasure,2  and  stir- 
ring up  ourselves  and  one  another  to  more  fervent  and 
continued  Supplication  ;3 — we  jointly  offer  up  a  devout 
prayer,  expressing  our  humble  confidence  in  the  Divine 
mercy,  and  earnestly  pleading  for  protection  from  danger, 
and  deliverance  in  trouble,  whether  of  body  or  soul.  How 
beautiful  and  encouraging,  and,  at  the  same  time,  how  scrip- 
tural is  the  opening  of  this  Prayer  ; — "  O  God,  merciful 
Father,  that  despisest  not  the  sighing  of  a  contrite  heart,  nor 
the  desire  of  such  as  be  sorrowful."  This  is  the  language 
of  David,  "  Lord,  thou  hast  heard  the  desire  of  the  humble: 
thou  wilt  prepare  their  heart,  thou  wilt  cause  thine  ear  to 
hear."4  It  is  the  language  of  simple,  humble,  yet  strong 
faith  : — faith  in  the  word  of  Him  who  hath  said,  "  To  this 
man  will  I  look,  even  to  him  that  is  poor,  and  of  a  contrite 
spirit,  and  trembleth  at  my  word."5 

The  response  which  follows,  ("  O  Lord,  arise,  help  us, 
and  deliver  us,  for  thy  Name's  sake  ;")6  is  very  awakening. 
The  minister  proceeds  with  another  appeal  to  the  Divine 
faithfulness,  taken  from  the  Psalms;  which  seems  to  carry 
back  the  mind  to  the  "  olden  time,"  the  days  of  the  Church's 
trial,  and  her  glorious  deliverance.  "  O  God,  we  have  heard 
with  our  ears,  and  our  fathers  have  told  us,  the  noble  works 
that  thou  didst  in  their  days,  &c."7  What  spirit-stirring 
words  are  these  ! — We  seem  to  be  listening  to  our  godly 
forefathers  recounting  the  triumphs  of  their  faith,  and  the 
might  of  the  right  hand  of  the  Most  Highest.  Inspired  by 
a  portion  of  their  heroic  constancy,  and  emboldened  by  the 
recollection  of  their  experience,  we  join  in  the  response ; 
"  O  Lord,  arise,  help  us,  and  deliver  us,  for  thine  honour." 

i  Rom.  viii  31,  32.  2  See  Psa.  ciii.  10. 

3  The  words  "  Let  us  pray,"  are  here,  by  some,  supposed  to  indicate  a 
transition  from  one  sort  of  prayer  to  another. 

4  Psalm  x.  17,  for  "  humble,"  the  margin  has  "  afflicted," 

5  Isaiah  lxvi  2.    Compare  lvii.  15,  and  Psalm  li.  17. 

6  Psalm  xliv.  2G ;  lxxix.  9.  7  Psalm  xliv.  1. 


CONCLUSION.  91 

Then,  as  if  already  anticipating  the  answer  to  our  prayers, 
we  burst  forth  into  the  noble  Doxology,  ascribing  all  praise 
to  the  Triune  Jehovah.  "Glory  be  to  the  Father,  &C."1 
How  much  is  all  this  in  accordance  with  some  of  David's 
finest  Psalms,  where  the  sacred  writer  begins  with  expres- 
sions of  the  deepest  abasement,  and  ends  with  the  most 
joyous  notes  of  praise.2  We  pass,  as  it  were,  in  a  moment, 
from  the  "  depths  "3  of  conscious  guilt,  and  the  "  prison  "4 
of  affliction,  out  of  which  he  cried  for  mercy  and  deliverance, 
to  the  mount  of  assurance,  and  the  songs  of  the  Redeemed. 

After  this  temporary,  but  not  unsuitable  interruption,  the 
pleadings  for  grace  and  mercy,  which  characterize  the 
Litany,  are  continued,  with  renewed  earnestness,  in  the  short 
Responses,  "  From  our  enemies  defend  us,"  &c.  "  Graciously 
look  upon  our  afflictions."  "  O  Lord,  let  thy  mercy  be 
shewed  upon  us ;" — "As  we  do  put  our  trust  in  thee."5 

Lastly,  having  prayed  for  deliverance  from  those  "  evils" 
to  which  our  "  infirmities"  expose  us,  and  which  our  sins 
have  deserved ;" — for  increase  of  faith  and  hope  in  the 
midst  of  trouble ;  and  for  grace  to  live  a  holy  life ;  which 
petitions  we  offer  up  in  the  name  of  "  our  only  Mediator  and 
Advocate,  Jesus  Christ :" — the  Litany  closes  with  forms  of 
Prayer  and  Thanksgiving,  which  have  been  already  con- 
sidered. 

i  "It  is  here  interposed  like  a  gleam  of  sunshine  breaking  through  a 
cloudy  sky,  or  like  a  star  of  hope  appearing  for  a  moment  in  a  black  night 
of  storms."— Rev.  J.  Bickersteth's  "  Guide  to  Litany,"  p.  11. 

2  Psalm  vi.  8 ;  xxii.  22  ;  xxx.  5 — 11 ;  Ixxvii.  10,  &c. 

3  Psalm  cxxx.  1.  4  psalm  cxlii.  7.  5  Psalm  xxxiii.  21. 


APPENDIX. 


A.     [page  83.] 

Befoiie  the  last  Review  in  1661,  the  Litany  was  designed  to  be  a 
distinct  service  by  itself,  and  was  used  in  King  Edward's,  and 
Queen  Elizabeth's  reigns,  some  time  after  the  Morning  Prayer 
was  over ;  the  people  being  called  together  by  the  ringing  of  a 
bell.  This  custom  (Wheatly  informs  us)  was  still  observed  in  his 
time  in  some  Cathedrals  and  Chapels,  where  Morning  Prayer 
was  read  at  six  or  seven,  and  the  Litany  at  ten.  Mr.  Blunt,  how- 
ever, is  of  opinion  that  the  present  practice  prevailed  within  the 
first  century  after  the  Reformation — Sketch  of  the  Reformation  by 
the  Rev.  J.  F.  Blunt,  p.  217. 

Might  not  this  method  be  restored,  with  advantage,  in  some 
cases,  shortening  the  services,  and  giving  a  pleasing  variety  to 
our  public  worship  1 

Wheatly  observes  that  "  Wednesdays  and  Fridays  were  the 
ancient  Fasting-days  of  the  primitive  Church  ;  the  death  of  Christ 
being  designed  on  the  Wednesday,  when  he  was  sold  by  Judas, 
and  accomplished  on  the  Friday,  when  he  died  on  the  cross." 
The  reason  of  its  use  on  Sunday  is  obvious;  viz.  "That  no 
day  might  seem  to  have  a  more  solemn  office  than  the  Lord's 
Day." 


CHAPTER    V. 

SUNDAYS   AND    HOLIDAYS,  WITH    THEIR    COLLECTS  AND 
APPROPRIATE  SERVICES. 

Before  we  enter  upon  a  more  particular  review  of  the  prin- 
cipal Festivals  of  our  Church,  it  may  he  well  to  make  some 
general  remarks  on  the  character  of  the  clays  thus  appointed 
to  be  kept  holy,  and  dignified  with  a  separate  and  solemn 
service. 

And  first,  in  order  and  authority,  of 

THE    LORD'S  DAY. 

The  observation  of  a  day  of  sacred  rest,  (which  is  the  proper 
meaning  of  the  Hebrew  word  Sabbath,) '  is  dated  from  the 
finishing  of  the  works  of  Creation,  in  Paradise,  when  "  God 
blessed  the  Seventh  day,  and  sanctified  it ;  because  that  in  it 
he  had  rested  from  all  his  work  which  God  created  and 
made."2  How  long  it  continued  to  be  observed  we  have 
not  the  means  of  ascertaining  ;  though  it  is  conjectured,  with 
seeming  probability,  that  the  weekly  distinction  of  time  was 
in  use  in  the  days  of  Noah ;  and,  consequently,  that  the 
Sabbath  was,  at  that  era,  not  unknown.3     However,  it  is 

1  pyS',  aa[l(liTov  "cessation  from  labour," — "day  of  rest," — a  name 
sometimes  given  to  other  festivals,  as  the  "day  of  atonement" — (Lev.  xvi. 
31.)  and  the  "Sabbatical  year;"  (Lev.  xxv.  4.)  sometimes  it  denotes  a 
"  week."    (Matt,  xxviii.  1.     1  Cor.  xvi.  2.  Gr.) 

2  Gen.  ii.  3. 

3  Gen.  viii.  10,  12.  "The  division  of  time  into  weeks  extends  from  the 
Christian  states  of  Europe  to  the  remote  shores  of  Hindustan,  and  has 
equally  prevailed  among  the  Hebrews,  the  Egyptians,  Chinese.  Greeks, 
Romans,  and  northern  barbarians ; — nations,  some  of  whom  had  little  or 
no  intercourse  with  others,  and  were  not  even  known  by  name  to  the  He- 
brews." (Home's  Introduction,  Vol.  i-  c  iii.  s.  ii.  §  1)  A  strong  incidental 
proof  of  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath  prior  to  the  dispersion  of  Babel. 

(93) 


94  INSTITUTION    OF    THE    SABBATH. 

not  unlikely,  that  during  the  sojourning  of  the  Israelites  in 
Egypt,  the  day  of  sacred  rest  had  fallen  into  oblivion,  and 
required  to  have  its  authority  and  obligation  formally  re- 
newed. 

Accordingly  we  find,  that  when  the  children  of  Israel 
were  in  the  wilderness,  at  the  time  when  the  manna  was 
given  them,  there  seems  to  have  been  some  doubt  on  this 
subject,  which  occasioned  Moses  to  speak  thus  to  the  rulers 
of  the  congregation, — "  This  is  that  which  the  Lord  hath 
said,  To-morrow  is  the  rest  of  the  holy  sabbath  unto  the 
Lord." '  This,  be  it  observed,  was  previous  to  the  giving  of 
the  law  from  Mount  Sinai,  and  the  language  used  on  the 
occasion  clearly  shows  that  the  distinction  of  days  was 
known  at  the  time,  though  the  relative  holiness  of  the  Sab- 
bath-day had  probably  been  forgotten.2  The  Fourth  Com- 
mandment places  the  sacred  observance  of  the  Sabbath 
among  the  principal  moral  duties  enjoined  by  God  upon  His 
people.  "Remember  the  Sabbath-day  to  keep  it  holy."3 
And  the  reason  given  in  Exodus  for  its  observation  is  one 
of  universal  force,  as  equally  obligatory  upon  all  mankind.11 

It  must  not  however  be  concealed,  that  some,  in  all  ages, 
since  the  Apostolic  times,  have  ventured  to  call  in  question 
the  Divine  authority  of  the  Christian  Sabbath,  on  the  plea, 
that  the  seventh  day  no  longer  "being  observed,  the  old  com- 
mand has  lost  its  force,  and  no  new  one  has  ever  been  given 
in  its  stead.  Now,  we  think,  that  this  argument  loses  sight 
of  the  important  distinction,  which  exists,  in  the  very  nature 
of  things,  between  a  moral  precept,  and  a  merely  positive 
ordinance  of  a  ceremonial  or  ritual  character.  The  Deca- 
logue,  or   Ten    Commandments,    consisted    principally    of 


1  Exod.  xvi.  23.  It  has  been  observed  that  the  creative  power  of  God 
rested  from  the  production  of  manna  on  the  seventh  day,  while  on  the  sixth 
day,  a  double  portion  was  provided,  by  a  continual  miracle.    (V.  25 — 29.) 

2  Comp.  veise  5,  22.  3  Exod.  xx.  8- 

**•  V.  11.  Compare,  however,  (Deut.  v.  15.)  where  a  motive  peculiar  to 
the  Israelites  is  alleged,— but  then,  observe,  with  reference  to  a  totally 
different  point.    (Ver-  14.) 


THE    FOURTH   COMMANDMENT.  95 

moral  laws,  and,  as  such,  is  of  perpetual  obligation.1  To 
distinguish  it  from  the  civil  and  ceremonial  laws  given  to 
Israel,  it  was  engraven  by  the  "  finger  of  God"  on  tables  of 
stone,2  and  deposited  in  the  "ark  of  the  testimony;"3  and, 
in  the  New  Covenant,  it  is  still  promised  to  be  written  by 
the  Divine  Spirit  on  "  the  fleshy  tables  of  the  heart."4 

But  the  Fourth  Commandment  alone  is  of  a  mixed  cha- 
racter, partaking  partly  of  the  nature  of  a  ritual,  and  partly 
of  a  moral  precept.  The  duty  of  worshipping  God,  there 
enjoined,  is  purely  moral.  Man  must  have  some  time  for 
doing  so ;  and  God  has  fixed  the  particular  proportion  of 
time  which  he  requires  for  this  service,  from  the  beginning 
of  the  world,  with  a  special  reference  to  the  revealed  order 
of  His  work  of  Creation.  These  general  considerations, 
then,  are  of  a  permanent  character,  and  admit  of  no  change; 
but  the  particular  day  on  which  we  ought  to  rest  for  the 
Divine  worship,  is  a  ritual  appointment,  and  is  capable  of 
alteration,  without  impairing  the  authority  or  sacredness  of 
the  commandment.5  We  admit,  therefore,  that  the  seventh 
day  Sabbath  is  no  longer  to  be  observed.  This  was  the 
Jewish  Sabbath,  and  to  retain  it  among  Christians  would  be 
to  keep  up  a  part  of  that  Mosaic  law  which  is  "  done  away 
in  Christ."6  But  we  are  not  left  to  our  own  conjectures  on 
this  subject.  Our  Blessed  Lord,  during  his  earthly  mini  try, 
gave  frequent  indications  of  his  design,  as  "  Lord  of  the 
Sabbath,"  to  make  a  change  in  the  outward  form  of  Sabbath 


1  See  Art.  vii.  "  No  Christian  man  whatsoever  is  free  from  the  obedi- 
ence of  the  Commandments  which  are  called  moral."    Matt.  v.  17 — 20. 

2  Exod.  xxxi.  18;  xxxii.  16;  xxxiv.  i.  3  Exod  xxv.  21,  22. 
4  Jer-  xxxi.  33.     Comp.  Heb.  viii.  10.    2  Cor  iii.  3. 

s  "  Albeit,  this  commandment  of  God  doth  not  bind  Christian  people  so 
straitly  to  the  precise  keeping  of  the  seventh  day,  after  the  manner  of  the 
Jews : — yet,  notwithstanding,  whatsoever  is  found  in  the  commandment 
appertaining  to  the  law  of  nature,  as  a  thing  most  godly,  most  just,  and 
needful  for  the  setting  forth  of  God's  glory,  it  ought  to  be  retained  and  kept 
of  all  good  Christian  people."— Horn.  xx.  "  Of  the  Time  and  Place  of 
Prayer."    See  Hooker,  v.  70.  (9.) 

e  2  Cor  iii.  14.    Col.  ii.  16,  17. 


96  THE    CHUISTIAN    SABBATH. 

observance,  as  prevalent  among  the  Jews.1  And,  although 
there  is  no  direct  proof  of  any  intention  to  alter  the  day,  but 
only  the  manner  of  observing  it ;  yet,  as  it  was  an  elevation 
of  the  moral  part  of  the  commandment,  at  the  expense  of 
the  mere  letter,  it  was,  at  least,  a  step  in  that  direction,  and 
prepared  the  way  for  the  change  which  was  afterwards  in- 
troduced. This  change,  probably  in  accommodation  to  their 
strong  prejudices,  and  the  weakness  of  his  disciples,  was  not 
fully  explained  at  the  time ;  but  the  teaching  and  practice  of 
his  Apostles,  after  his  departure,  soon  intimated  its  gradual 
establishment.  Indeed,  immediately  after  his  resurrection 
on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  that  day  seems  to  have  been 
regarded  as  the  Christian  Sabbath  ;  a  day  to  be  kept  in 
special  remembrance,  by  public  assemblies  for  Divine  wor- 
ship, and  participation  of  the  Lord's  Supper.2  Consequently 
on  this  day  our  Lord  twice  met  his  disciples,  when  thus 
gathered  together,  on  successive  occasions,  and  manifested 
himself  to  them  with  words  of  heavenly  benediction.  And 
on  it  He  fulfilled  his  promise  of  sending  to  them  his  Holy 
Spirit.3  From  other  parts  of  Scripture  we  learn,  that  the 
custom  of  meeting  on  "  the  Lord's  day"  was  kept  up  gene- 
rally among  Christians ;  and  St.  John,  in  the  Revelation, 
gives  it  that  name,  by  which  it  is  now  most  appropriately 
designated.4  We  conclude,  then,  that  the  moral  part  of 
this  fourth  commandment  still  continues  in  full  force,  accord- 
ing to  our  Blessed  Lord's  own  authoritative  statement ; — 
"  Whosoever  shall  break  one  of  these  least  commandments, 
and  shall  teach  men  so,  he  shall  be  called  the  least  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaven."5  A  seventh  portion  of  our  time  is  as 
much  due  to  God,  as  was  that  of  Adam,  Noah,  or  Moses. 
But  instead  of  resting  on  the  seventh  day,  with  the  Antedi- 
luvian and  the  Jew,  we  keep  holy  the  first  clay  of  the  week, 
a  day  on  which  a  work  was  finished,  more  illustrious  than 
that  of  Creation  itself,  the  work  of  our  Redemption. 

i  Matt.  xii.  1—12.    Luke  xiii.  10—16.    John  v.  9—18 ;  ix.  14. 

2  John  xx.  19—26.     Acts  xx.  7.     1  Cor.  xvi.  2. 

3  Acts  ii.  1.  *  Rev.  i.  10.    See  Appendix  A.  5  Matt.  v.  19. 


lord's  day  observance.  97 

In  confirmation  of  the  above  arguments,  we  may  observe 
that  the  Apostle  Paul,  in  the  fourth  chapter  of  his  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews,  seems  to  allude  to  the  change  from  the  seventh 
to  the  first  day  of  the  week,  when  he  says,  "  There  remain- 
eth  a  rest,"  (i.  e.  a  day  of  rest.  Margin,  Iceeping  of  a  Sab- 
bath,) l  "  to  the  people  of  God.  For  he  that  is  entered  into 
his  rest  (Christ),  hath  ceased  from  his  own  works,  (of  Re- 
demption), as  God  did  from  his  (of  Creation),  when  he  insti- 
tuted the  first  Sabbath." 

But  it  may  still  be  asked,  Where  is  the  difference  between 
your  observance  of  the  Christian  Sabbath  and  the  Jewish  ? 
We  answer,  they  differ  considerably  both  in  strictness  of 
literal  enactment,  and  in  the  severity  of  the  penal  sanction 
by  which  they  are  enforced.  All  kinds  of  work,  with  scarcely 
any  exception,  was  forbidden  to  the  Jews  on  their  Sabbath, 
under  pain  of  death.2  Whereas,  all  works  of  piety,  charity, 
and  necessity?  are  in  strict  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the 
Christian  Sabbath,  and  may  be  performed  without  scruple 
or  hesitation  by  the  enlightened  Christian,  who  regards  this 
holy  day  not  so  much  as  a  restraint  upon  his  liberty,  as  a 
blessed  opportunity  of  glorifying  God,  and  doing  good  to  his 
fellow-creatures ;  in  short,  a  beginning  of  heaven  upon  earth, 
a  foretaste  of  eternal  rest.4  But  to  attempt  to  revive  the 
rigid  severity  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath  in  a  Christian  age  and 
country  would,  we  conceive,  be  a  returning  to  the  legal  spirit 
of  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  instead  of  following  out  that 
which  our  Blessed  Lord  both  taught  and  exemplified.5  At 
the  same  time,  great  care,  self-denial,  and  watchful  self-ex- 
amination must  be  exercised,  lest  the  liberty  of  the  Gospel 
should  degenerate  into  licentiousness,  and  "  an  occasion  to 
the  flesh.""     The  true  spirit  of  Sabbath  observance  under 

i  Heb.  iv.  9.  o-a/?/?ar«7//0j,  not  Karmrawts  as  in  the  former  verses,  Comp. 
verses  1 — 11.  See  Owen  on  the  Hebrews,  where  the  above  view  of  this 
difficult  portion  of  Scripture  is  amply  and  fully  vindicated.  Bishop  Poinet 
appears  to  allude  to  this  passage  in  his  Catechism. — Liturgies  of  Edward 
VI.  Park.  Soc.  515.  2  Exod.  xxxi.  14,  15.    Numb.  xv.  32—36. 

3  Matt.  xii.  5.  "piety."  7,9 — 13,  "  charity."  1 — 4,  "necessity." 

*  Heb.  iv.  9.  5  See  Page  96.  (i) 

6  1  Cor.  viii.  9.    Gal.  v.  13.     1  Peter  ii.  16. 
9 


98  xord's  day  observance. 

the  new  dispensation  seems  to  be  as  completely,  as  it  is  beau- 
tifully, delineated  in  the  words  of  the  Prophet ;  "  If  thou  turn 
away  thy  foot  from  the  Sabbath,  (so  as  not  to  trample  upon 
its  sacredness,)  from  doing  thy  pleasure  on  my  holy  day; 
and  call  the  Sabbath  a  delight,  the  Holy  of  the  Lord,  ho- 
nourable; and  shalt  honour  him;  not  doing  thine  awn 
ways,  nor  finding  thine  own  pleasure,  nor  speaking  thine 
own  vjords :  Then  shalt  thou  delight  thyself  in  the  Lord, 
&c.'" 

"  It  is  not  enough,"  says  a  pious  writer,  who  will  not  be 
suspected  of  enthusiasm,  "  that  we  rest  from  the  works  of 
our  calling,  but  our  time  must  be  employed  in  all  such  reli- 
gious exercises  as  tend  to  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  salva- 
tion of  our  souls."  2  To  frequent  the  public  worship  of  God 
with  diligence,  punctuality,  and  becoming  reverence,  though 
an  important  part  of  the  duty  of  this  sacred  season,  is  by  no 
means  the  whole  of  it.  We  must  spend  the  remainder  of 
the  day  in  a  consistent  and  suitable  manner,  in  Divine  medi- 
tation and  prayer,  in  catechizing  and  instructing  our  fami- 
lies, in  teaching  the  ignorant,  visiting  the  sick,  relieving  the 
distressed,  and  contributing  to  the  wants  of  the  poor,  accord- 
ing to  our  ability,  with  liberality  and  kindness.3  Even  our 
relaxations  among  our  friends,  or  at  home,  must  be  con- 
ducted on  the  same  principle  of  glorifying  God,  by  "  season- 
ing our  discourse  with  prudent  and  profitable  hints  for  the 
advancement  of  piety  ;  and  taking  care  that  no  sourness  and 
moroseness  mingle  with  our  serious  frame  of  mind."4  Nor 
must  we  forget  that  our  servants,  trades-people,  and  depcnd- 

1  Isaiah  lviii.  13,  14.  2  Nelson,  "  Companion  for  Festivals." 

3  It  is  not  intended  to  introduce  a  secularity  of  employment,  even  in  the 
exercises  of  mercy,  inconsistent  with  the  more  spiritual  and  appropriate 
duties  of  this  sacred  day.  But  as  we  may,  and  ought  to  contribute  publicly, 
and  privately,  as  occasion  presents  itself,  to  the  wants  of  the  poor,  on  the 
Lord's  Day  ;  so  a  measure  of  active  and  self-denying  exertion  in  visiting 
and  relieving  the  necessitous,  seems  to  be  not  only  consistent  with  the 
sacredness  of  the  season,  but  conducive  to  its  due  improvement.  (1  Cor. 
xvi.  2.  Matt.  xii.  7;  xxv.  34—40.  1  John  iii.  16, 18,  &c.)  Of  Sunday  busi- 
ness and  pleasure  taking,  the  xxth  Homily  has  an  admirably  pointed 
rebuke.    "  These  people  are  of  two  sorts,"  &c. 

4  Nelson,  "Companion  for  Festivals." 


DISTINCTION    OF    SUNDAYS.  99 

ents  must  rest  as  well  as  we,  nor  are  even  our  horses  and 
cattle  to  be  overlooked ;  so  that  every  practice,  whether  for 
gain  or  pleasure,  which  is  inconsistent  with  this  observance 
of  the  sanctity  of  the  Lord's  day,  must  be  promptly  and  un- 
flinchingly sacrificed  and  laid  aside,  as  contrary  to  our  duty 
to  God  and  man. 

In  the  public  services  of  this  sacred  day,  in  addition  to  the 
usual  Morning  and  Evening  service,  our  Church  has  ap- 
pointed special  lessons  to  be  read  out  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments,1  the  Litany  to  be  used,  and  the  Communion 
service,  with  a  suitable  Collect,  Epistle,  and  Gospel. 

But  there  is  a  further  distinction  of  Sundays  adopted  by 
the  Church,  which  we  will  now  endeavour  to  explain. 

When  any  subject  of  considerable  extent  has  to  be  treated 
systematically  and  fully,  it  is  necessary  to  divide  it  into  por- 
tions, and  then  cause  each  part  to  pass  under  review  in  a 
regular  order.  This  is  the  method  of  scientific  teaching, 
nor  is  it  less  the  result  of  practical  experience.  Thus,  in 
explaining  and  enforcing  the  leading  doctrines  and  duties  of 
Christianity,  the  Church  has  arranged  them  in  a  series ;  ap- 
propriating the  consideration  of  certain  fundamental  truths 
to  particular  seasons  ; — such  as  Advent,  Christmas,  Easter, 
and  Whitsuntide ;  and  of  certain  duties,  as  of  fasting  and 
prayer,  to  Ash- Wednesday,  Lent,  the  Ember  and  Rogation - 
days,  &c.  Thus,  about  half  the  year  is  occupied  with  spe- 
cific subjects  ;  the  other  half  is  left  open  for  the  inculcation 
of  more  general,  but  not  less  needful,  points  of  duty  and 
practice. 

By  means  of  this  simple  arrangement  is  secured,  as  far 
as  possible,  a  due  attention  to  every  fundamental  article  of 
religion  ;  for  if  the  officiating  minister  should  neglect  his 
duty  in  this  respect,  the  very  title  of  the  Collect  for  the  day, 
will,  in  many  cases,  silently  reprove  him,  and  also  remind 
his  congregation  of  the  culpable  omission.2 

i  These  were  not  added  till  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 

2  It  is  not  intended,  however,  that  the  above  plan  was  entirely  the  result 
of  design.  It  probably  was  so  only  in  part.  The  more  important  Festivals 
of  the  Church  have  been  handed  down  to  us  from  the  most  remote  anti- 


100  HOLY  DAYS. 


HOLY  DAYS. 

In  addition  to  this  distinction  of  Sundays,  the  Church  has 
appointed  certain  other  days  to  be  kept  holy.  These  are  of 
two  classes ;  the  first  consisting  of  such  days  as  refer  to  the 
leading  events  in  the  History  of  our  Blessed  Lord ;  the  latter 
of  such  as  are  kept  in  remembrance  of  his  Apostles  and  dis- 
tinguished disciples,  whose  lives  and  deaths  have  been  re- 
corded in  Scripture  for  our  instruction  and  example. 

our  saviour's  festivals. 

The  design  and  use  of  this  former  class  has  been  ex- 
plained already,  when  treating  of  the  distinction  of  Sundays. 
We  cannot  describe  them  better  than  in  the  words  of  our 
own  ecclesiologist,  Hooker : — "  The  rest  of  the  days  and 
times  which  we  celebrate  have  relation  all  unto  one  Head. 
We  begin  therefore  our  ecclesiastical  year,"  (according  to 
the  old  computation  from  Lady-day,)  "  with  the  glorious 
Annunciation  of  his  birth  by  angelical  embassage.  There 
being  hereunto  added  his  blessed  Nativity  itself;  the  mys- 
tery of  his  legal  Circumcision;  the  testification  of  his  true 
Incarnation  by  the  Purification  of  her  which  brought  him 
into  the  world  ;  his  Resurrection,  his  Ascension  into  heaven, 
the  admirable  sending  down  of  his  Spirit  upon  his  chosen, 
and  (which  consequently  ensued,)  the  notice  of  that  incom- 
prehensible Trinity  thereby  given  to  the  Church  of  God."  ' 

Before  we  proceed  to  the  consideration  of  the  latter  class, 
consisting  of  Saints'1 -days,  more  properly  so-called,  it  may 
be  well  to  anticipate  an  objection,  which  is  commonly  made 

quity  ;  so  that  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  they  were  celebrated, 
(if  not  in  the  Apostolic  age,  of  which  we  possess  very  scanty  records ;)  yet 
in  times  very  nearly  approaching  to  it :  so  that,  on  this  account  alone,  they 
call  for  the  respect,  and  justly  claim  the  devout  observance  of  all  right- 
minded  Christians.  Tertullian  mentions  Easter  and  Whitsuntide,  as  kept 
in  his  time,  A.  D.  200.  (De  Jejuniis.  adv.  Psych,  c.  14.)  Respecting  the 
time  of  observing  Easter  there  was  a  controversy  in  Polycarp's  day  be- 
tween the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches ;  both  sides  alleging  Apostolic 
usage.  (A.  D.  158.  Euseb.  b.  v.  c.  24.) 
i  Eccles  Pol,  v.  70.  (8) 


OBJECTION  TO  HOLY  DAYS.  101 

against  Holy  Days  in  general ; — namely,  that  such  obser- 
vations are  opposed  to  the  simplicity  of  the  Gospel,  and 
savour  of  Judaism,  rather  than  of  Christianity. 

We  allow,  that  the  Apostle  Paul  reproved  the  Galatians 
for  observing  Jewish  Feasts.1  But  this,  we  think,  arose 
not  from  the  sinfulness  of  the  practice,  which  he  had  allowed 
to  be  indifferent,  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,2  but  from 
the  spirit  which  it  manifested,  and  the  principle  upon  which 
it  was  performed.  These  converts  from  heathenism  were 
deceived  by  the  superstitious  notion,  that  the  Jewish  rites 
were  necessary  to  be  observed  by  Christians,  in  order  to 
their  perfection  in  holiness ;  and  that  by  such  observances 
they  would,  in  part  at  least,  be  justified.3  Against  such  a 
pernicious  opinion,  the  zealous  Apostle  contends  with  all 
his  might ;  and  particularly  marks  whatever  in  their  con- 
duct seemed  to  lean  that  way.  Such  was  the  case  before 
us.  But  we  are  not  thence  to  conclude  rashly,  that  all 
festivals  and  holy-days  of  man's  appointment  are  supersti- 
tious and  vain.  The  Jews,  we  know,  kept  the  feast  of 
Dedication,  in  remembrance  of  the  purification  of  the  temple, 
a  merely  human  appointment,  which  our  Blessed  Lord  so  far 
from  censuring,  himself  honoured  with  his  presence.4  Again, 
when  the  Apostle,  writing  to  the  Colossians,  says,  "  Let  no 
man  judge  you  in  meat,  or  in  drink,  or  in  respect  of  a  holy 
day,  or  of  the  new  moon,  or  of  the  Sabbath-days,  &c."5 
We  think  he  must  be  understood  in  the  same  way ;  namely, 
us  guarding  them  against  a  return  to  the  Jewish  yoke ;  not 
against  all  observance  of  holy-days  and  festivals  whatever. 
The  Sabbath-day"  itself,  we  see,  was  not  exempt  from  this 
condemnation,  as  far  as  respected  the  ceremonial  observance 
of  the  seventh  day.  But  the  Lord's-day  Sabbath  still  held 
its  authority  unimpaired  by  the  Apostle's  denunciation.  Upon 
the  same  grounds  we  affirm,  that  this  inspired  statement 
does  not  affect  the  power  of  the  Church  to  appoint  feasts 
and   fasts  for  public  edification  ;  provided  they  be  not  too 


l  Gal.  iv.  10  2  Rom.  xiv.  5,  6.  3  Gal.  iii.  3;  v,  4. 

4  John  x.  22.  5  Col.  ii.  lfi,  17. 

9* 


102  saints'  days. 

many,  and  so  prove  burdensome  to  the  conscience,  nor 
abused,  as  the  Popish  holy-days  were,  to  superstitious  pur- 
poses, and  the  grossest  idolatry. 

Not,  indeed,  that  for  a  moment  we  would  place  the  observ- 
ance of  a  festival  of  human  appointment  on  the  same  footing 
with  a  purely  Divine  ordinance.  And  if  Holy-days  are 
again  perverted,  as  they  have  been,  from  their  proper  use, 
namely,  the  increase  of  piety,  charity,  and  godliness,  to 
become  a  handle  of  superstition  and  will-worship ;  substi- 
tuting formal  observances  for  the  lively  exercise  of  faith, 
love,  and  dependence  on  the  Saviour's  merits  ; — we  doubt 
not  but  that  the  Apostolic  warning,  above  given,  may  be 
justly  applied  to  such  an  abuse  of  religious  duties,  as  too 
plainly  indicating  the  existence  of  a  Pharisaical,  self-right- 
eous, and  Judaizing  spirit.' 

saints'  days. 

There  remains  to  be  considered  the  second  class  of  holy, 
days,  namely,  those  kept  in  commemoration  of  certain 
saints,  or  holy  men,  recorded  in  scripture,  by  whose  labours 
the  Christian  Church  was  mainly  established.  Set  forth  in 
the  Word  of  God  as  our  examples  in  zeal  and  piety,  faith 
and  patience,  humility  and  charity, — it  seems  right,  that, 
as  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  have  engaged  our  attention 
on  days  peculiarly  appropriate  to  bring  them  before  us  as 
matters  of  fact; — so  the  practice  of  religion  should  be 
clearly  set  before  our  eyes,  in  living  instances  of  its  power; 
such  as  St.  Paul  presents  us  with,  when  he  says,  "  Be  ye 
followers  of  me,  even  as  I  also  am  of  Christ."2  And  again, 
"  Brethren,  be  followers  together  of  me,  and  mark  them, 
which  walk  so,  as  ye  have  us  for  an  ensamplc."*  Christ 
himself  is,  indeed,  our  great  pattern.  But  as,  when  the 
sun  is  set,  the  "lesser  lights"  of  heaven  shine  forth  to  guide 
and  cheer  the  wanderer  on  his  way  ;  so  do  these  auxiliary 
examples  of  piety  and  virtue  help,  even  by  their  less  daz- 

1  See  Appendix.  B.  [also  note  1  on  page  104.] 

2  1  Cor.  xi.  I.  J  Phil.  hi.  17- 


saints'   days.  103 

zling  radiance,  to  direct  and  cheer  the  Christian  pilgrim  on 
his  path  to  heaven ;  and  oft  remind  him,  that  he  must  not 
be  "  slothful,  but  a  follower  of  them,  who,  through  faith 
and  patience,  inherit  the  promises." ' 

These  days  also  Hooker  beautifully  refers  to  Christ. 
"  Forasmuch  as  we  know  that  Christ  hath  not  only  been 
manifested  great  in  himself,  but  great  in  other  his  saints 
also,  the  days  of  whose  departure  out  of  the  world  are  to 
the  Church  of  Christ  as  the  birth  and  coronation  days  of 
kings  or  emperors ;  therefore,  especial  choice  being  made 
of  the  very  flower  of  all  occasions  in  this  kind,  there  are 
annual  selected  times  to  meditate  of  Christ  glorified  in 
them,  which  had  the  honour  to  suffer  for  his  sake,  before 
they  had  age  or  ability  to  know  him ;  glorified  in  them, 
which  knowing  him  as  Stephen,  had  the  sight  of  that  before 
death,  whereinto  so  acceptable  death  did  lead ;  glorified  in 
those  sages  of  the  East,  that  came  from  far  to  adore  him, 
and  were  conducted  by  strange  light;  glorified  in  the  second 
Elias  of  the  world,  sent  before  him  to  prepare  his  way;  glo- 
rified in  those  Apostles,  whom  it  pleased  him  to  use  as 
founders  of  his  kingdom  here  ;  glorified  in  the  angels,  as  in 
Michael;  glorified  in  all  those  happy  souls,  that  are  already 
possessed  of  heaven.  Over  and  besides  which  number  not 
great,  the  rest  be  but  four  other  days  heretofore  annexed  to 
the  feast  of  Easter  and  Pentecost,  by  reason  of  general  Bap- 
tism usual  at  those  two  feasts."2 

We  fully  admit  that  Saints'  Days  have  been,  and  are 
among  the  worst  features  of  Popery.  We  utterly  reject  all 
such  authority  as  that  of  Popish  legends,  and  a  spurious  or 
doubtful  antiquity.  Indeed  the  saint-worship  of  Papal  Rome 
is  scarcely  less  heathenish  than  the  demonolatry  of  their 
Pagan  predecessors.  Nor  can  we  conceive  a  more  awful 
curse  to  descend  upon  our  own  favoured  land  than  the  revi- 
val among  ourselves  of  the  superstitious  observances  of  the 
middle  ages. 

1  Heb.  vi.  12.    Comp.  xiii.  17.  2  Eccles.  Pol.  v.  70.  (8) 


104  PASTS. 

If  then  the  observance  of  Saints'  Days  in  our  Church 
has  fallen  into  neglect,  considering  the  tendency  there  is  in 
some  quarters  to  an  indiscreet,  if  not  superstitious,  attach- 
ment to  human  ordinances,  we  are  not  anxious  to  see  any 
forcible  attempts  made  to  restore  their  regular  and  uniform 
observance.  But,  at  the  same  time,  we  cannot  join  in  an  idle 
clamour  against  those  who,  in  compliance  with  the  Rubric, 
observe  these  days  in  due  order,  and  endeavour  to  improve 
them  by  a  suitable  and  scriptural  application  of  sound  doc- 
trine.' 

FASTS. 

Religious  fasting  has  been  a  frequent  exercise  of  the  peo- 
ple of  God  in  all  ages.  The  Israelites  were  divinely  com- 
manded to  keep  an  annual  day,  on  which  they  were  to 
"  afflict  their  souls," 2  by  mortification  of  their  carnal  appe- 
tites, and  abstinence  from  ordinary  and  lawful  indulgences. 
This  was  the  only  Fast  appointed  by  Moses ;  but  we  read 
of  many  occasional  acts  of  humiliation  by  prayer  and  fast- 
ing, performed  by  individuals  in  private,  as  well  as  others  in 
public,  by  the  whole  nation.  Of  the  former  kind  were  the 
fasts  of  David,3  Daniel,4  and  Nehemiah;5 — of  the  latter, 
that  of  Joshua  before  Ai,6  of  the  Israelites  of  Shiloh,7  of 
Samuel  at  Mizpeh,8  of  Jehoshaphat,9  Ezra,10  and  many 
others.  But  beside  these  Fasts,  the  object  of  which  was, 
not  so  much  the  subjugation  of  the  flesh  to   the  Spirit, 

i  [A  unanimous  voice  exists  in  our  Church,  in  favor  of  commemorating 
the  leading  facts  in  our  Saviour's  history,  and  of  considering  the  funda- 
mental doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  upon  set  days-  But  of  however  strong  a 
defence  the  permission  to  her  members  by  our  Church  to  celebrate  the  lives 
and  characters  of  a  few  Scriptural  saints  upon  appointed  festivals,  may  be 
susceptible,  it  yet  seems  to  be  a  partial  selection  among  a  host  of  equals, 
and  would  appear,  among  its  observers,  to  be  a  custom  not  desirable  in  its 
piactical  effects.]    See  Appendix  C. 

S  It  may  be  translated  "humble  yourselves"  or  "subdue  your  desires." 
cqini'pzrpN  nsn  Lev.  xvi,  29 ;  xxiii.  27 — 32.    Comp.  Isaiah  lviii.  3,  5. 

3  '2  Sarn.xii.~l6.    Psalm  xxxv.  13;  lxix.  10. 

4  Dan.  ix.  3.    Comp.  x.  2,  3  s  Neh.  i.  4.  o  Joshua  vii.  6. 

7  Judges  xx.  26.    Comp.  23.  8  1  Sam.  vii.  6.        »  2  Chron.  xx.  3. 

io  Ezra  viii.  21.  See  also  Esther  iv.  16.  Jer.  xxxvi.  9.  Joel  i.  14; 
ti.  12,  15.    Zech.  viii.  19. 


SCRIPTURAL    AUTHORITY.  105 

as  the  expression  of  deep  humiliation  and  sorrow  lor  sin, 
and  to  avert  the  Divine  displeasure  on  account  of  it :  we 
meet  with  some  remarkable  instances  of  extraordinary 
abstinence  from  food,  of  a  miraculous  character,  which  pre- 
ceded or  accompanied  some  singular  manifestation  of  the 
Divine  presence,  and  unusually  intimate  and  elevated  com- 
munion with  God.  Such  were  the  forty-days  fasts  of 
Moses,'  Elijah,2  and  our  Lord  himself; 3  which,  though  they 
cannot  be  an  example  to  us,  as  being  "  out  of  the  common 
rules  of  nature,"  yet  "  surely  they  recommend  the  thing 
to  us  very  strongly,  to  be  practised  in  our  measure." 4  Our 
blessed  Lord's  fasting  before  He  was  tempted  by  the  Devil, 
"  demonstrates  the  utility  of  this  practice,  when  accom- 
panied by  true  Christian  faith  and  love ;  and  also  the 
strength  which  it  imparts  to  resist  temptations,  particularly 
such  as  he  underwent, — to  worldly  and  carnal  lusts."5 
With  reference  to  the  forty-days'  fastings  of  Moses  and 
Elijah,  it  has  been  observed,  that  "  these  three  great  fasters 
we  find  together  glorious  in  Mount  Tabor."6  And,  we  may 
conclude,  with  a  pious  writer,  "  that  they,  who  most  resem- 
ble Christ  in  mortification  and  self-denial,  shall  be  most 
favoured  with  spiritual  views  and  refreshments."  7  But  let 
us  not  forget  to  note  the  accompanying  remark  of  the 
devout  Bishop  Hall :  "  Abstinence  merits  not — What  are 
meats  and  drinks  to  the  kingdom  of  God,  which  is,  like  him- 
self, spiritual?8    But  it  prepares  best  for  our  good  duties." 

To  pass  on  to  the  Christian  dispensation,  we  find  that  our 
Lord  gave  no  positive  precept  on  this  subject.  He  openly 
censured  the  Pharisaical  manner  of  fasting  prevalent  among 
the  Jews,9  and  declined  laying  upon  his  disciples  a  rigorous 
burden  of  outward  service,  which  might  prove  a  snare  to 


l  Moses  fasted  forty  days  two  several  times.  Comp.  xxiv.  18;  xxxiv. 
28.    Deut  ix.  9, 18.  2  l  Kings  xix.  8.  »  Matt.  iv.  2. 

4  Rev.  Joseph  Milner's  Sermon  on  "  Duty  and  Uses  of  Religious  Fast- 
ing." 5  Ibid.  Matt.  iv.  3—10. 

6  Bishop  Hall's  Contemplations,  B.  vi.  1.    Comp.  Matt.  xvii.  3. 

7  Rev,  J.  Milner.    Comp.  Luke  ix,  30,  31. 

«  Rom.  xiv.  17.     1  Cor.  viii.  8.  9  Matt.  vi.  16— la 


106  FASTING    ALLOWED    BY    CHRIST. 

their  weak  consciences,  and  entangle  them  in  the  soul- 
destroying  errors  of  self-righteousness  and  hypocrisy.1  But 
he  no  more  condemned  the  practice  of  Fasting,  than  he  did 
Almsgiving,  or  Prayer,  with  which  it  is  associated;2  for  it 
was  not  the  thing  itself,  but  its  ostentatious  abuse,  which,  in 
either  case,  fell  under  his  just  rebuke.  And  though  he  did 
not  see  fit  to  authorize  any  system  of  public  fasting,  he 
intimated  that  a  time  would  come  when  its  introduction 
would  be  both  appropriate  and  helpful.3  Such  a  time,  we 
know,  did,  ere  long,  arrive.  Accordingly  we  find  his  Apos- 
tles adding  fasting  to  their  prayers,  both  public  and  pri 
vate.4  With  what  holy  severity  of  self-denial  the  Apostle  of 
the  Gentiles  exercised  himself  this  way,  we  may  gather  from 
his  own  confession — "  in  fastings  often." fi  Thus  "  he  kept 
under  his  body,  and  brought  it  into  subjection."6  For 
though  none  knew  better  than  he  that  "  all  things  were  law- 
ful for  him,  yet  he  would  not  be  brought  under  the  power 
of  any ,-" 7  so  as  to  be  the  slave  of  his  appetites,  and  not  to 
be  able  to  refrain,  when  requisite,  from  their  indulgence. 
The  same  habitual  self-denial,  which  he  practised  himself, 
he  recommends  to  others.  Thus  married  persons  are  ad- 
vised to  retire  occasionally  from  each  other's  company  that 
they  may  "  give  themselves,"  with  less  interruption,  "  to 
fasting  and  prayer."  8 

Having  thus  established  the  duty  of  religious  fasting,  we 
may  proceed  to  consider  its  use.  We  have  already  seen 
that  it  was  employed  as  a  natural  expression  of  humiliation 
for  sin,  and  a  means  of  averting  the  displeasure  of  God, 
and  obtaining  his  forgiveness.  Thus  it  was  used  by  his 
ancient  people  on  the  "  day  of  Atonement," 9  and  by  the 
Ninevites  when  they  repented  at  the  preaching  of  Jonah ; 10 — 

l  Matt.  ix.  14—17.  2  Matt,  vi,  1—7.  3  Matt.  ix.  15. 

4  Acta  ix.  9;  xiii.  2,  3;  xiv.  23.  5  2  Cor.  vi.  5;  xi.  27. 

6  1  Cor.  ix.  27.  7  l  Cor.  vi.  12. 

e  1  Cor.  vii.  5.    Comp.  Joel  ii.  16.    Zech.  xii.  12—14. 

9  Lev.  xvi.  30 ;  xxiii.  27,  28. 

1  o  Jonah  iii.  5—10.    Comp.  1  Kings  xxi.  27—29, 


USE    OF    FASTING.  107 

and  thus  it  is  enjoined  to  be  used  by  the  prophet  Joel,  in 
that  impressive  call  to  repentance  : — "  Turn  ye  to  me  with 
all  your  heart,  and  with  fasting,  and  with  weeping,  and 
with  mourning."  ' 

Another  obvious  use  of  abstinence  is,  as  Hooker  expresses 
it,  "  to  take  down  the  frankness  of  nature,  and  tame  the 
wildness  of  the  flesh." 2  Our  Blessed  Lord  tells  us,  that 
some  kinds  of  evil  spirits  "  go  not  forth,  but  by  prayer  and 
fasting."  3  Surely  strong  lusts,  and  stubborn  habits  of  sin- 
ful indulgence  are  of  this  sort.  It  is  true  that  "  bodily 
exercise  profiteth  little ;" 4  but  "  fasting  profits  something, 
when  it  is  not  pharisaically  relied  on  as  godliness  itself,  but 
is  used  as  an  outward  mean  of  godliness,  commanded  by 
God  himself."  5  Nor  will  the  mere  outward  discipline  be 
without  its  benefit,  if  thereby  we  are  inured  to  superiority 
over  our  natural  appetites,  and  to  "  abstain  from  those 
fleshly  lusts  which  war  against  the  soul."6 

To  "  feed  without  fear,"  7  is  the  black  mark  of  a  false 
professor,  a  "  profane  person,  like  Esau,  who  for  one  morsel 
of  meat  sold  his  birthright."  8  "  Pride,  fulness  of  bread, 
and  abundance  of  idleness," 9  were  the  ruin  of  Sodom  :  and 
often  has  sad  experience  shown  that  sensual  indulgence  in 
one  respect  has  paved  the  way  for  "  fulfilling  the  lusts  of 
the  flesh  "  10  in  the  grossest  and  most  debasing  sensuality. 
It  is  true  that  the  Christian  "  must  be  temperate  in  all 
things,"  n  and  so  "  let  his  moderation  be  known  unto  all 
men,"  12  by  an  habitual  course  of  self-denial,  and  not  only 
on  set  occasions  of  outward  fasting.  But  this  does,  by  no 
means,  interfere  with  the  real  use  of  such  seasons,  which 
tend,  when  rightly  improved,  "  to  harden  whom  pleasure 
would  melt,  and  to  help  (reduce)  the  tumours  which  always 

i  Joel  ii.  12.  2  Eccl.  Pol.  v.  72.  (2)  3  Matt.  xvii.  21. 

4  1  Tim.  IV.  8.  r\  aoijtaTiKri  yvfivatria  TTpog  oXiyov  eartf  (Of/itXi/ioj.    Marg.  "  for 

a  little  time."  Schleusner  explains  this  of  the  exercises  in  the  Gymnasium, 
and  the  preparatory  training.    So  also  Whitby  and  Doddridge. 

s  Rev.  J.  Milner.  6  l  Peter  ii.  11.  7  Jude  12. 

«  Heb.  xii.  16.  9  Ezek.  xvi.  49. 

io  Rom.  xiii-  14.  Gal.  v  16-  Comp  Deut.  xxxii  15-  Jer.  v,  7,  a 
Hosea  xiii.  6.    Amos  vi.  1 — 4.  1 1  1  Cor.  ix.  25.  l  -  Phil.  iv.  5. 


108  TIMES    OF    FASTING. 

fulness  breedeth ;  that  children,  as  it  were  in  the  wool  of 
their  infancy,  dyed  with  hardness,  may  never  afterwards 
change  colour." ' 

Respecting  times  of  fasting,  nothing  certain  can  be  drawn 
from  the  New  Testament.  The  Apostles,  indeed,  used  it  as 
an  accompaniment  of  Ordination  ; 2  and  our  Church  has 
followed  this  Scriptural  precedent,  by  appointing  that  so- 
lemn ordinance  to  be  administered  during  the  Ember  weeks, 
which  are  set  apart  for  fasting  and  prayer.  Besides  these 
Quarterly  Fasts,  and  the  Vigils?  she  observes  the  Forty 
days  of  Lent,  as  a  preparation  for  the  solemnity  of  the  day 
of  our  Lord's  Crucifixion ; 4  and  all  Fridays,  (except 
Christmas-day,  if  it  should  happen  to  fall  on  that  day)  as  a 
weekly  fast,  in  commemoration  of  the  same  event.6  If  we 
add  to  these  the  Rogation-da.ys,  which  immediately  precede 
our  Lord's  Ascension,  and  continue  for  three  days,  of  which 
we  shall  speak  afterwards  ;  we  have  a  complete  list  of  the 
periodical  Fasts  sanctioned  by  our  Church. 

Of  the  manner  in  which  the  Church  intended  these  days 
to  be  kept,  we  have  her  own  statement  in  the  sixteenth 
Homily.  "  Fasting,  by  the  decree  of  the  630  Fathers, 
(assembled  at  the  Council  of  Chalcedon,  one  of  the  four 
first  general  Councils,6)  grounding  their  determination  in 
this  matter  upon  the  sacred  Scriptures,  and  long-continued 
usage  or  practice  both  of  the  Prophets  and  other  godly  per- 
sons before  the  coming  of  Christ,  and  also  of  the  Apostles 
and  other  devout  men  in  the  New  Testament,  is  a  with- 
holding of  meat,  drink,  and  all  natural  food  from  the  body, 

1  Hooker,  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  72.  (18)  who  also  insists  upon  a  third  use  of  Fast- 
ing— thus  given  in  Horn.  xvi.  "  That  the  spirit  may  be  more  earnest  and 
fervent  to  prayer."     See  above,  p.  118. 

2  Acts  xiii.  2,  3  ,•  xiv.  23-  3  See  Appendix  D. 
4  See  Aug.  Ep.  lvi.  xv.  for  an  account  of  the  Quadragesimal  fast. 

3  G.  Herbert  thus  speaks  of  the  observance  of  fasting  days.  "  As  Sun- 
day is  his  day  of  joy,  so  Friday  his  day  of  humiliation :  which  he  celebrates 
not  only  with  abstinence  of  diet,  but  also  of  company,  recreation,  and  all 
outward  contentments;  and  besides  a  confession  of  sins,  and  all  acts  of 
mortification." — Country  Parson,  ch.  x.  6  A.  D.  451. 


MANNER    OF    FASTING.  109 

for  the  determined  time  of  fasting.'"  But,  although  this  is 
the  general  rule,  the  same  authority  shows  that  much  al- 
lowance must  be  made  for  differences  of  constitutional  tem- 
perament, and  capacity  of  enduring  abstinence ;  and  that 
no  pharisaical  rigour  is  to  be  manifested  in  the  performance 
of  an  Evangelical  ordinance.2  The  "  Divine  principle,  "  I 
will  have  mercy  and  not  sacrifice," 3  was  grievously  lost 
sight  of  by  the  early  Church  on  this  subject ;  thus  convert- 
ing the  most  sacred  abodes  of  ancient  Christianity  into 
nests  of  self-tortured  hermits,  and  schools  of  fanatic  ascetic- 
ism.4 Far  be  it  from  us  to  revive  such  grossly  pernicious 
practices.  But  may  we  not  have  erred  in  the  other  ex- 
treme? Through  a  just  dread  of  Popery,  we  have  too 
much  slighted  the  opposite  danger  of  self-indulgence.5  If 
fasting  is  "  one  of  the  least  commandments,"  yet  if  it  is  a 
commandment,  a  threat  attends  the  neglect  of  it.6  Let  us 
cultivate  a  due  and  proportionate  regard  to  the  whole  round 
of  moral  duties  in  their  scriptural  harmony  and  complete- 
ness, for  "  God  hath  made  cverythiyig  beautiful  in  his 
time.'''' T 

Once  more;  to  eat  fish  instead  of  flesh,  during  the  season  of 
Lent,  is  not  fasting.  Ordered  [originally]  by  the  State,  for  po- 
litical reasons  now  no  longer  in  existence,8  we  cannot  consider 

1  Horn.  xvi.  "  Of  Fasting," — which  contains  much  valuable  instruction. 

2  Herbert,  in  his  "  Country  Parson,"  wisely  advises,  "  that  not  only  sick- 
ness breaks  these  obligations  or  fasting,  but  sickliness  also.  For  it  is  as  un- 
natural to  do  any  thing  that  leads  me  to  a  sickness  to  which  I  am  inclined, 
as  not  to  get  out  of  that  sickness  when  1  am  in  it,  by  any  diet."  He  adds 
some  sensible  remarks  on  the  use  of  flesh  meat  "  moderately  taken,"  in  pre- 
rerence  to  other  diet,  for  "  a  weak  and  obstructed  body,  as  most  students 
are." — Country  Parson,  chap.  x. 

3  Matt.  xii.  7.     Hosea  vi.  6. 

4  See  Taylor's  "  Ancient  Christianity,"  Vol.  i.  pp,  313 — 370. 

5  "  If  we  attend  to  matters  of  fact,  it  may  truly  be  observed,  that  self- 
indulgence,  and  the  neglect  of  fasting  and  of  the  other  severer  duties  of  the 
same  kind,  are  evils,  which,  in  the  practice  of  many  who  profess  to  be  reli- 
gious, need  to  be  rebuked. — While  we  have  shunned  one  extreme,  we  have 
run  into  another." — Rev.  J.  Milner,  sermon  on  Fasting. 

G  Matt.  v.  19.  7  Eccles-iii.  11 

s  The  encouragement  of  the  fisheries,  and  support  of  the  maritime 
towns. 

10 


110  THE    COLLECTS. 

such  an  observance  binding  upon  our  consciences  at  the 
present  day.  But,  at  the  same  time,  we  may  allow,  with 
Hooker,  that  difference  in  the  "kind"  as  well  as  "the 
quantity  of  diet,"  may  constitute  a  species  of  fasting :  of  the 
former  he  gives  a  plain  precedent  in  the  prophet  Daniel,  who 
"  for  three  weeks  ate  no  pleasant  bread,  neither  tasted  flesh 
nor  wine."1  While  we  maintain  our  Christian  liberty,  as 
those  who  know  that  all  distinctions  of  clean  and  unclean 
are  done  away  by  the  Gospel,  and  that  "  meat  commendeth 
us  not  to  God  ;"2  yet,  it  is  well  to  train  ourselves  betimes  to 
"endure  hardness  as  good  soldiers  of  Christ  Jesus;"3  to 
accustom  our  craving  desires  to  brook  denial,  even  in  lawful 
things ; — and  to  keep  far  from  their  character  and  condem- 
nation, who  "  make  a  god  of  their  belly,"4  and  are  "  lovers 
of  pleasure  more  than  lovers  of  God."5 

THE    COLLECTS,  EPISTLES,  AND  GOSPELS. 

We  have  already  remarked,  that  there  are  short  prayers 
specially  appointed  for  Sundays  and  Holy-days,  called  Col- 
lects, probably  because  many  of  them  seem  to  have  been 
collected, — in  spirit,  at  least,  and  general  sentiment, — from 
the  Epistles  and  Gospels,  the  portions  of  Scripture  appointed 
to  be  read  on  those  days,  during  the  Communion-service.6 
They  are  of  various  character,  many  of  them  having  been 
adopted  from  the  Prayer  Books  used  by  the  ancient  Church, 
purified  and  remodelled,  where  it  was  thought  needful,  at  the 
period  of  the  Reformation.7 

i  Hooker,  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  73.  (6.)    Dan  x.  2,  3. 

2  1  Cor.  viii.  8;  x.  23.    Comp.  Rom.  xiv.  14.     1  Tim.  iv.  4.     Titus  i.  15. 

3  2  Tim,  ii.  3.  *  phi],  iii.  19.  5  2  Tim.  iii.  4. 

6  See  p.  53,  4.  "That  in  many  of  the  Collects  no  such  connection  can 
be  traced,  no  more  disproves  the  probable  correctness  of  the  derivation, 
than  the  fact  that  some  of  the  Epistles  are  taken  out  of  the  Acts,  or  the 
Old  Testament,  proves  that  they  do  not  receive  their  denomination  from 
the  major  part- 

7  Gelasius,  Bishop  of  Rome,  A.  D.  492,  is  said  to  have  arranged  the 
Collects  in  order,  and  added  some  new  ones.  Gregory  the  Great,  A.  D. 
600,  revised  them,  and  from  his  Sacramentary,  about  seventeen  of  the 
present  Collects  are  taken.    See  Wheatley,  Comber,  Palmer,  &c. 


EPISTLES    AND    GOSPELS.  Ill 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  examine  these  excellent  and  beau- 
tiful specimens  of  comprehensive  prayer,  in  regular  order. 
The  attempt  would  be  too  laborious,  and  wholly  inconsistent 
with  the  plan  of  this  work.  Besides — many  valuable  trea- 
tises on  this  subject  are  already  in  circulation,  to  which  our 
readers  would  do  well  to  refer. ' 

The  Collects  for  Saints'-days,  as  well  as  for  Sundays,  are 
most  valuable ;  and  altogether  form  an  extensive  collection 
of  prayers,  suited  for  almost  every  occurence  in  a  Christian's 
life  and  experience.2 

The  Epistles,  for  the  most  part,  treat  of  points  of  duty ; 
the  Gospels  of  the  most  important  and  affecting  incidents  in 
the  lives  of  our  Saviour  and  his  Apostles.  They  are  chiefly 
taken  out  of  the  Lectionary  of  Jerome,3  and  have  been  thus 
used  by  the  Church  ever  since  the  fourth  century. 

How  interesting  the  thought  that,  in  reading  the  Epistles 
and  Gospels  marked  out  for  the  Ecclesiastical  year,  we  are 
taking  our  walk  through  the  field  of  Scripture,  by  the  same 
path,  on  which  the  Christians  of  1400  or  1500  years  ago 
have  gone  before  us,  and  held  sweet  and  refreshing  commu- 
nion with  the  Lord  Jesus  ; — when,  as  the  disciples  going  to 
Emmaus,  their  "  hearts"  often  "  burned  within  them,  as  he 
talked  with  them  by  the  way,  and  opened  to  them  the  Scrip- 
tures."4 We  would  earnestly  recommend  this  valuable 
selection  from  Holy  Writ  for  the  private  study  of  the  devout 
Christian,  on  the  days  appointed  by  our  Church,  even 
where  circumstances  may  prevent  their  being  publicly  ob- 
served.5 

ADVENT. 

The  Church  measures  out  the  course  of  time,  not  by  the 
revolution  of  the  civil  or  natural  year,  but  by  a  method  of 

i  See  Biddulph  on  the  Liturgy,  3  vols.  8vo.  and  Birch's  Exposition  of 
Collects. 

2  See  Table  of  Collects  arranged  alphabetically  under  proper  heads, 
published  by  the  Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge. 

3  Wheatley,  Comber,  &c.  4  Luke  xxiv.  32. 
s  See  Appendix  E. 


112  ADVENT. 

her  own  ; ' — commencing  the  annual  cycle  of  Sabbaths  and 
Festivals,  with  the  sacred  season  of  Advent,  occupying  the 
four  Sundays  next  before  Christmas-day  ;  as  a  preparation 
for  the  solemn  commemoration  of  the  coming  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  in  the  flesh.  The  word  Advent  signifies  com- 
ing; — and  the  Epistles  and  Gospels  chosen  for  this  season 
have  a  reference  more  or  less  distinct,  to  this  leading  idea ; 
— the  First  Coming  of  Christ  to  save,  being  viewed  in  close 
connection  with  His  second  Coming  to  judge  the  world.2 

The  observation  of  Advent  is  of  considerable  antiquity; 
dating,  as  far  as  we  can  trace  it  back,  from  the  middle  of 
the  fifth  century.3  And  surely,  the  true  Christian  cannot 
need  to  be  told  that  it  is  a  pious  and  profitable  design  of 
his  faithful  mother,  the  Church,  thus  to  direct  his  thoughts 
to  Jesus,  "  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,"4  as  his  "  morning- 
star,"3  the  light  risen  upon  a  dark  world.  That  as,  "  in 
the  beginning,  God  said,  Let  there  be  light,  and  there  was 
light  ;"6  so  "  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God 
may  shine  in  our  hearts,"  reflected  from  "  the  face  of  Jesus 
Christ."7  That  as  He  came  in  our  flesh,  so  he  may  bo 
formed  in  our  hearts  "the  hope  of  glory."8  Surely  it  is 
a  blessed  privilege,  and  suitable  exercise  of  our  faith,  to  be 
calling  to  mind  our  Saviour's  first  Advent  in  lowly  meek- 
ness, and  to  anticipate  His  second  coming  in  glorious  ma- 
jesty.    May  we  be  daily  "looking  for  him,"9  and  "love 

1  See  Isaac  Walton's  interesting  life  of  G.  Herbert.  "  He  instructed 
them  what  benefit  they  had  by  the  Church's  appointing  the  celebration 
of  holy  days,  and  the  excellent  use  of  them, — "  to  be  (as  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Hooker  says)  the  landmarks  to  distinguish  limes ;"  by  them  we  are  taught 
to  take  notice  how  time  passes  by  us-"  And  again,  "Thus  the  Church 
keeps  an  historical  and  circular  commemoration  of  times  as  they  pass  by 
us;  of  such  times  as  ought  to  incline  us  to  occasional  praises  for  the 
particular  blessings  which  we  do  or  might  receive  by  those  holy  com- 
memorations." 

2  Rom.  xiii.  11 — 14.  Matt.  xxi.  5— 9.  Rom.  xv.  9 — 12.  Luke  xxi.  27, 
28,31.     1  Cor.  iv.  5.     Matt.  xi.  3.  10.     Phil.  iv.  5.    John  i.  23,  26,  27. 

3  Maximus  Taurinensis,  about  the  year  A.  D.  450,  wrote  a  Homily  on 
Advent — Wheatly.  4  Mai.  iv.  2.  5   Rev.  xxii.  16. 

6   Gen.  i.  1,3.  7  2  Cor.  iv.  6.  8  Col.  i.  27. 

9   Heb  ix.  28. 


ADVENT.  113 

His  appearing;"1  that  when  that  great  and  awful  day  shall 
dawn,  we  may  "  lift  up  our  heads  with  joy,  because  our 
Redemption  draweth  nigh  ;"2  and  say,  "  Come,  Lord  Jesus, 
come  quickly."3 

The  Collect  for  the  First  Sunday  in  Advent,  is,  in  fact, 
the  substance  of  the  Epistle,  moulded  into  the  form  of 
Prayer ;  and  is  full  of  holy,  practical  truth,  fresh  from  the 
mine  of  Scripture,  contrasting  the  meanness  of  Christ's  first 
coming,  with  the  glory  of  his  second  Advent.  On  the 
Second  Sunday,  we  have  an  invaluable  prayer,  suited  for 
constant  use  before  reading  the  Bible,  and  which  is  too  well 
known  to  need  further  comment.  On  the  third,4  we  pray 
for  God's  ministers,  that,  like  John  the  Baptist,  they  may 
prepare  the  way  of  the  Lord  by  the  preaching  of  Repentance. 
And  on  the  fourth,  we  implore  the  aid  of  Almighty  grace, 
to  enable  us  to  overcome  the  obstacles  of  besetting  sin,  in 
"  hasting  unto  the  coming  of  the  day  of  God."5  Long  has 
the  unbelieving  world  taunted  us  with  the  challenge,  "  Where 
is  the  promise  of  his  coming?"6 — the  predicted  sign  that 
we  are  living  in  "  the  last  days."7  Let  us  not,  then,  forget 
that  "  a  thousand  years  are,  with  the  Lord,  as  one  day."8 
For  "  the  day  of  the  Lord," — that  tremendous  "  day  of 
judgment  and  perdition  of  ungodly  men,"9 — "  shall  come 
as  a  thief  in  the  night,"  silently,  suddenly,  and  with  terror; 
— and  "the  earth,  and  all  the  works"  of  man  "shall  be 
burned  up."  "  Seeing  then  that  all  these  things  shall  be 
dissolved,  what  manner  of  persons  ought  we  to  be  in  all  holy 
conversation  and  godliness?"  Let  us  so  repent  of  sin,  and 
embrace  the  hope  of  salvation  in  Christ,  so  live  and  labour 
for  God,  as  those  who  "  look  for  the  new  heavens  and  new 
earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness  ;"  and  who  desire  to 
"  be  found  of  him  in  peace,  without  spot,  and  blameless."10 

l  2  Tim.  iv.  8.  2  Luke  xxi.  28.  3  Rev.  xxii.  20. 

4  This  Collect  was  substituted  at  the  Restoration,  1G62,  for  the  follow- 
ing— "  Lord,  we  beseech  thee,  give  ear  to  our  prayers,  and  by  thy  gracious 
visitation  lighten  the  darkness  of  our  hearts,  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

5  2  Peter  iii.  12.  6  Verse  4.  ^  Verse  3. 

8  Verse  8.  9  Verse  7.  102  Peter  iii.  10—14. 

10* 


114  EMBER    DAYS. 


EMBER    DAYS. 


The  Ember-days,1  already  alluded  to,2  occur  four  times 
in  the  year,  (as  if  to  consecrate  each  season  of  it,)  and  con- 
tinue for  three  days; — viz.  the  Wednesday,  Friday,  and 
Saturday, — after  the  first  Sunday  in  Lent,  Whitsunday, 
the  14th  of  September,  and  the  13th  of  December.  The 
last  of  these  occurring  during  Advent,  we  shall  take  this 
opportunity  of  making  a  few  general  remarks  upon  them. 

The  design  of  the  Church  in  setting  apart  these  days, 
will  best  appear  from  her  own  declaration,  in  the  Canon 
entitled,  "  Four  solemn  times  appointed  for  the  making  of 
ministers."  "  Forasmuch  as  the  ancient  Fathers  of  the 
Church,  led  by  example  of  the  Apostles,  appointed  Prayers 
and  Fasts  to  be  used  at  the  solemn  ordering  of  ministers  ; 
and  to  that  purpose  allotted  certain  times,  in  which  only 
sacred  orders  might  be  given  or  conferred :  We,  following 
their  holy  and  religious  example,  do  constitute  and  decree. 
That  no  Deacons  or  Ministers  be  made  and  ordained,  but 
only  upon  the  Sundays  immediately  following  "  Jejunia 
quatuor  temparum"  commonly  called  Ember -weeks,  ap- 
pointed in  ancient  time  for  Prayer  and  Fasting  (purposely 
for  this  cause  at  their  first  institution)  and  so  continued  at 
this  day  in  the  Church  of  England."3 

Surely  it  is  a  cause  for  just  regret,  that  a  matter  of  such 
importance  as  the  appointment  of  pastors  to  feed  the  flock 
of  Christ,  should  be  so  carelessly  passed  over,  as  it  is  at  the 
present  day,  by  a  large  majority  of  the  congregations  in 
our  churches.  Our  Church  has  appointed  two  excellent 
prayers  to  be  used  on  the  Ember-weeks,  beginning  on  the 
Sunday  before  the  day  of  Ordination.4     But,  alas  !  the  con- 

l  Signifying  "  days  of  ashes,'' — '  abstinence,'"  or  (as  others)  "  in  course," 
— Wheatley.  p.  215.  2  See  p.  108. 

3  Canon  xxxi.  [This  Canon  is  English  ;  but  as  it  shows  the  origin  and 
object  of  the  Ember  days  in  our  own  book,  the  quotation  is  retained  in  the 
present  edition.] 

4  At  the  last  Revision  of  the  Prayer-Book,  (1661,  1662.)  "The  first 
most  proper  to  be  used  before  the  candidates  have  passed  their  examina- 
tion, and  the  other  afterwards." — Wheatly,  p.  185. 


USE    OF    EMBER    0AYS.  115 

ferring  of  Holy  Orders  being  no  longer  confined  to  these 
periods,  no  wonder  that  the  prayers  of  the  Church  have,  in 
so  many  instances,  ceased  to  be  offered.  It  is  not,  we  trust, 
the  case  that  the  reverend  fathers  of  our  Church  are  indif- 
ferent to  the  prayers  of  the  people.  But,  whatever  be  the 
cause  of  this  omission,  it  seems  greatly  to  be  desired  that 
we  should  return  to  the  good  u  old  paths"1  of  godly  disci- 
pline ;  and  that  the  sympathies  of  the  flock  should  again  be 
drawn  forth  in  behalf  of  their  pastors,  on  these  interesting 
occasions.  If  even  our  Blessed  Lord  himself,  "in  the  days 
of  his  flesh,"2  desired  the  assistance  of  the  prayers  of  his 
disciples,  before  he  gave  to  the  Twelve  their  apostolic  com- 
mission;— "The  harvest  truly  is  plenteous,  but  the  labourers 
are  few ;  pray  ye  therefore  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that 
lie  will  send  forth  labourers  into  his  harvest  ;"3 — how  much 
more  may  the  bishops  and  pastors  of  his  flock,  at  the  pre- 
sent day,  take  up  the  request  of  the  Apostle — "Brethren, 
pray  for  us."*  Great  would  be  the  advantage,  under  the 
Divine  blessing,  of  a  due  observance  of  the  Ember-weeks, 
as  a  means  of  concentrating,  sustaining,  and  deepening,  an 
united  interest  in  prayer  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  that 
universal  Church  of  Christ,  "  which  He  has  purchased  with 
His  own  blood."5 

But  this  is  not  all.  We  are  many  of  us  called  upon,  at 
this  season,  to  perform  a  solemn,  and,  in  some  cases,  a 
painful  and  difficult  duty,  in  connection  with  the  admission 
of  young  men  into  the  sacred  ministry  of  the  Church  ; 
whether  it  be  examining  into  the  qualifications  of  the  can- 

i  Jer.  vi.  16.  2  Heb.  v.  7.  3  Matt.  ix.  37,  38.  Comp.  x.  1. 

4  2  Thess.  iii.  1.    Comp.  Eph.  vi.  19.    Col.  iv.  3.     1  Thess.  v.  25. 

5  Acts  xx.  28.  Walton  in  his  life  of  Hooker,  records,  that  "  He  never 
failed,  the  Sunday  before  Ember  week,  to  give  notice  of  it  to  his  parish- 
ioners, persuading  them  both  to  fast,  and  then  to  double  their  devotions 
for  a  learned  and  pious  clergy ;  but  especially  the  last.  And  to  what  he 
persuaded  others,  he  added  his  own  example  of  fasting  and  prayer ;  and 
did  usually  every  Ember-week  take  from  the  parish-clerk  the  key  of  the 
church-door;  into  which  place  he  retired  every  day,  and  locked  himself  up 
for  many  hours;  and  did  the  like  most  Fridays,  and  other  days  of  fasting. 
See  also  Walton's  Life  of  G.  Herbert,  Works,  Vol.  i.  p.  lxiv. 


116  CHRISTMAS. 

didates,  affixing  our  signature  to  their  testimonials,  or 
inquiring  into,  and  testifying  to,  the  fitness  or  unfitness  of 
their  character.  This  is,  indeed,  a  responsibility  too  often 
little  thought  of  by  us :  but  not,  on  that  account,  the  less 
weighty.  May  God  incline  and  enable  us  to  discharge  our- 
selves of  it  fully  !  Little  will  the  excuse  avail,  at  the  day 
of  final  account,  "  Am  I  my  brother's  keeper?"  '  while  the 
"  blood  "  of  souls,  which  were  lost  through  our  neglect,  is 
"  crying  "  against  us  "  to  God  "  for  vengeance  !  2 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  who  can  estimate  the  benefits 
which  might  flow  from  fervent,  united,  persevering  prayer 
for  the  outpouring  of  God's  Spirit  upon  ministers  and  their 
flocks,  at  home  and  abroad.  Bishops  making  a  wise  and 
holy  choice, — pastors  being  enlightened,  pure,  and  devoted 
to  their  work, — religion  would  revive  in  all  its  interests 
amongst  us  ;  scriptural  piety  would  circulate  freely  through- 
out the  whole  body  of  the  Church  ; — "  God  would  bless  us, 
and  all  the  ends  of  the  earth  would  fear  him." 3 

CHRISTMAS. 

Christmas,4  or  the  Feast  of  Christ's  Nativity,  was  very 
early  observed  in  the  primitive  Church,  although  the  pre- 
cise day  on  which  it  is  fixed  is  a  matter  of  doubtful  autho- 
rity. This,  however,  is  a  point  of  little  practical  import- 
ance ;  the  design  of  the  institution  of  such  a  festival,  and 
the  spirit  and  manner  of  its  proper  observance,  being  the 
marks  at  which  we  would  now  direct  the  attention  of  our 
readers.5 

On  this  interesting  day  we  call  to  mind  that  most  stupen- 
dous "  mystery  of  godliness,  God's"  becoming  "manifest 

i  Gen.  iv.  9.  2  Verse  10.  3  psalm  lxvii  7. 

4  Christmas — i.  e.  "  the  feast  of  Christ ;"  mass  being  a  word  of  Saxon 
origin,  signifying  a  Festival — as  in  Candlemas,  Martinmas,  Michaelmas,' 
&c— Todd. 

5  The  observation  of  Christmas  on  the  25th  of  December  is  referred  to 
early  tradition  by  the  Apostolical  Constitutions,  and  by  Chrysostom  ;  (Tom. 
5,  p.  467)  but  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been  fixed  till  the  period  of  the 
Council  of  Nice,  A.  D.  325,  when  Christmas  is  said  to  have  been  first  sepa- 
rated from  Epiphany.— See  Hale's  Chronology,  pp.  196—199. 


CHRISTMAS. 


117 


in  the  flesh,"1  or  nature  of  man,  by  the  Incarnation  [Na- 
tivity] of  Christ ;  and  are  invited  to  join  in  the  song  of  the 
angels  at  His  birth,  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on 
earth  peace,  goodwill  towards  men." a  And  surely,  if  we 
were  to  keep  silence  on  such  an  occasion,  the  very  "  stones 
would  cry  out  "  3  against  us. 

Our  Church  has  furnished  us  with  an  admirable  provision 
of  spiritual  services,  appropriate  for  this  day's  solemn  com- 
memoration. In  the  Collect,  we  pray  that,  as  the  "  only- 
begotten  Son  of  God "  was,  "  as  at  this  time,  born  of  a 
pure  Virgin,"  4  so  we  being  born  again,5  and  made  his  chil- 
dren by  adoption  and  grace,"6  may  "daily  be  renewed  by 
his  Holy  Spirit." 7  How  great  is  our  privilege ! — The 
blessed  Virgin  was  indeed  honoured  in  being  the  mother  of 
our  Lord.  But  what  was  her  dignity  herein  when  com- 
pared with  that  of  those  in  whom  "  Christ  is  formed  the 
hope  of  glory?"8  She  was,  for  a  short  time  only,  the 
chosen  vessel,  which  contained  the  incarnate  Deity.  We 
may  always  be  so, — in  whose  "  hearts  Christ  dwells," 9 — 
being  "  the  habitation  of  God  through  the  Spirit."  I0  To 
use  the  emphatic  language  of  our  excellent  Homily  on  this 
occasion  ;  "  O  how  much  are  we  bound  to  the  goodness  of 
God  in  this  behalf!  How  many  thanks  and  praises  do  we 
owe  unto  him  for  this  our  salvation,  wrought  by  his  dear 
and  only  Son,  Christ,  who  became  a  pilgrim  on  earth,  to 
make  us  citizens  in  heaven  ;  who  became  the  Son  of  man, 
to  make  us  the  sons  of  God ;  who  became  obedient  to  the 
law,  to  deliver  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law ;  who  became 
poor,  to  make  us  rich  ;  vile  to  make  us  precious  ;  subject  to 
death,  to  make  us  live  for  ever  !"  " 

The  Epistle  and  Gospel  for  the  day  ,2  set  forth  the  glory 

i  1  Tim.  iii.  16.  2  Luke  ii.  14.  3  Luke  xix.  40, 

*  John  iii.  16  j  i.  14.    Matt.  i.  22— 25-  *  John  iii-  3—5. 

e  Gal.  iv.  4—6-  7  Titus  iii.  5.  8  Col.  i-  27.    Gal.  iv.  19. 

9  Eph.  iii.  17.  l  o  Eph.  ii.  22. 

1 1  Horn.  xxiv.  "  Sermon  of  the  Nativity." 

1 2  Heb.  i.  1—12.    John  i.  1—14. 


118  CHRISTMAS. 

of  the  Divine  nature  of  Jehovah  Jesus,  as  "  God  and  man 
in  one  Christ." ' 

"  As  much  when  in  the  manger  laid, 
Almighty  ruler  of  the  sky, 
As  when  the  six  days  work  He  made 
Fill'd  all  the  morning  stars  with  joy."2 

In  the  first  Prayer-book  of  Edward  VI.,  there  was  an- 
other Collect,  with  its  Epistle  and  Gospel,  appointed  for  the 
First  Communion,  probably  held  early  in  the  morning  ;  the 
present  being  used  at  the  second.3  This  arose  from  the 
churches  not  being  large  enough  to  hold  all  the  communi- 
cants at  the  great  festivals  of  Christmas  and  Easter.  What- 
ever improper  motives  tended  to  swell  the  concourse  to  the 
Lord's  Table  at  those  seasons,  and,  consequently,  diminish 
our  regret  at  their  discontinuance ;  we  cannot  but  desire  to 
see  an  increased  attendance  of  spiritual  worshippers,  call- 
ing for  a  more  frequent  repetition  of  that  holy  Sacrament. 

The  Proper  Psalms  seem  designed  to  assist  us  in  giving 
"  thanks  unto  God  for  his  unspeakable  gift,"  4 — the  gift  of 
his  dear  Son,  to  whom  several  of  them  distinctly  refer.5 
The  Lessons  selected  to  be  read,  confirm  the  precious  truth 
of  the  Incarnation,  by  the  threefold  testimony  of  a  Prophet, 
an  Apostle,  and  an  Evangelist.6 

How  painful  is  the  reflection,  that  this  peculiarly  Chris- 
tian Festival  should  have  been  so  long,  and  so  generally 
perverted  to  purposes  of  sensual  pleasure,  not  much  less 
gross  and  debasing,  and,  certainly,  far  less  excusable,  than 
the  orgies  of  the  heathen  "  Saturnalia,"  into  whose  room 

1  Athan.  Creed.  2  Cowper. 

3  The  following  was  the  Collect  "At  the  first  Communion."  "God, 
which  makest  us  glad  with  the  yearly  remembrance  of  the  birth  of  thy 
only  Son  Jesus  Christ  •  grant  that  as  we  joyfully  receive  him  for  our  Re- 
deemer, so  we  may  with  sure  confidence  behold  him,  when  he  shall  come 
to  be  our  judge,  who  liveth  and  reigneth,"  &c.  Ep,  Titus  ii.  11 — 15.  Gosp. 
Luke  ii.  1 — 14.  The  latter  is  now  the  second  Lesson — which  was  then 
taken  from  Matt.  i.  4  2  Cor.  ix.  15. 

s  Psalm  xlv.    lxxxv.    lxxxix.   ex. 

6  Taken  from  Isaiah  ix.  and  vii.     Luke  ii.    Titus,  iii. 


ST.    STErilEA'a    DAY.  119 

they  are  said  to  have  succeeded.1  Surely  there  is  no  neces- 
sity that  Christian  gladness  and  mirth  should  degenerate 
into  voluptuous  indulgence,  much  less  into  brutal  excess,  and 
barbarous  riot.  "  Is  any  merry  ?  let  him  sing  psalms" 2 
is  the  Scriptural  rule :  but  to  apply  it,  we  need  a  spiritual 
taste  ,•  and  until  we  obtain  that,  it  is  vain,  and  worse  than 
vain,  to  pretend  to  rejoice  at  the  birth  of  Him,  who  "  came 
to  save  his  people  from  their  sins."  3 

st.  Stephen's  day. 

The  Feasts  of  St.  Stephen,  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  and 
the  Innocents,4  follow  immediately  after  Christmas-day,  not 
because  this  was  the  time  of  their  sufferings,  but  because 
they  seemed  fitly  to  represent  that  "  noble  army  of  mar- 
tyrs," that  "  glorious  company  of  Apostles," 3  and  those 
"  little  ones  "  of  Christ's  "  kingdom,"6  which  compose  the 
retinue  and  royal  train  of  our  heaven-born  King. 

We  shall  not  dwell  at  length  on  these  days,  having  already 
alluded  to  the  general  principle  on  which  they  are  observed 
by  the  Church.7  But  as  Stephen  was  the  Proto-martyr,  or 
first  of  the  martyrs,  this  seems  a  proper  place  for  making  a 
few  remarks  on  the  character  of  those  ancient  "  commemo- 
rations of  the  martyrs" 8  of  which  our  present  Saints'-days 
are  considered  to  be  the  legitimate  offspring. 

St.  Paul  exhorts  the  Hebrews  to  "  remember  them  which 
had  the  rule  over  them,"  or,  as  it  is  in  the  margin,  "  their 
guides"  who  had  spoken  unto  them  the  word  of  God : 
whose  faith  he  bids  them  to  "  follow,  considering  the  end  of 
their  conversation."*     The   martyrdom  of  James,  who  is 

1  "  Hospinian,  a  learned  German  antiquarian,  is  of  opinion  that  the 
Christians  at  Rome  celebrated  Christmas  on  the  25th  of  December,  to  make 
amends  for  the  Heathen  Saturnalia,  which  was  a  season  of  great  festivity," 
and  unrestrained  licentiousness  among  all  classes,  "  beginning  December 
16th,''  (rather  17th)  " and  usually  prolonged  to  a  week" — Hales,  p-  199- 

2  James  v-  13-  3  Matt-  i-  21-    Comp.  James  iv-  8 — 10- 

4  These  days  were  very  early  observed  in  the  Church-  See  Orig-  Horn, 
3-  in  Divers.  Part  2.  Aug-  Serm  314,  315,  &c  Chrysost-  in  St-  Steph,  Orat 
135,  135,  <tc- 

6  The  "  Te  Deum  "  6  Matt-  xviii-  3—6 ;  xix-  14- 

7  Page  102.  8  "  Memoriae  Martyrum."  9  Heb.  xiii.  7. 


120  THE    CIRCUMCISION. 

called  the  first  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  is  usually  supposed  to 
be  here  alluded  to ; l  not  to  mention  James,  the  brother  of 
John,  whom  Herod  beheaded,2  and  even  Stephen  himself:3 
As  a  means  of  carrying  out  this  Apostolic  precept,  the  an- 
cient Christians  used  to  meet  annually  at  the  graves  of  the 
martyrs,  and  celebrate  their  birthdays, — as  the  time  of  their 
suffering  was  called, — with  suitable  expressions  of  joy  and 
praise.4  Thus  Ignatius  was  honoured  at  Antioch,  and  Poly- 
carp  at  Smyrna.5  But,  in  process  of  time,  these  simple  ex- 
ercises of  piety  degenerated  into  idolatrous  adoration  of  dead 
men's  bones,  and  the  most  debasing  superstitions.  At  the 
Reformation,  therefore,  all  the  names,  not  found  in  Scrip- 
ture, as  recorded  examples  of  Christian  sanctity  were  reject- 
ed, and  those  festivals  which  were  retained  in  the  Calendar, 
were  restored  to  their  primitive  design,  namely,  not  for  the 
rvorshipping,  but  the  imitation  of  the  Saints.6 

The  Collect  is  addressed  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  after 
the  example  of  the  dying  martyr;7  and  is  full  of  admirable 
instruction  for  the  Church,  as  a  preparation  for  those  days 
of  fiery  trial,  which  she  should  never  put  out  of  sight,  even 
in  her  most  sunshiny  hours  of  prosperity.  The  character 
of  Stephen,  as  a  man  "full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  wisdom,"8 
— "  full  of  faith  and  power,"9  is  set  forth  in  the  Epistle,  and 
Second  Lessons,10  to  which  we  refer  our  reader. 

THE    CIRCUMCISION. 

The  feast  of  the  Circumcision,  better  known  as  New 
Year's  day,  is  important  to  be  observed ; — not  only  as  re- 
minding us  of  that  Saviour,  who  was  made  "  obedient  to  the 
law  for  man,"11  and  on  this  day  received  the  name  of  Jesus/2 

I  See  Doddridge,  &c.  2  Acts  xii.  2. 

3  Acts  vii.  59,  60.    See  Scott  on  Heb.  xiii.  7. 

4  Hooker,  v.  20  (9.)     Aug.  Serm.  310. 

5  See  Act.  Mart.  Ignat.  §  7,  and  Eccles-  Smym.  Epist.  de  Mart-  S.  Poly- 
carp,  §  18- 

6  "Honorandi  sunt  propter  imitationem,  non  adorandi  propter  religi- 
onem."— Aug.  de  Vera  Relig-  c-  lv.  7  Acts  vii.  59,  60- 

8  Acts  vi.  3.  9  vi.  5,  8.  10  Acts  vi.  vii. 

I I  Collect.    Matt  iii.  13.    Gal.  iv.  4.  12  Luke  ii.  21. 


EPIPHANY.  121 

— but  also,  as  teaching  us  how  to  begin  the  year  aright, — 
namely,  by  seeking  of  God  the  "  true  circumcision  of  the 
Spirit ;  that  our  hearts  and  all  our  members  being  mortified 
from  all  worldly  and  carnal  lusts,  we  may  in  all  things  obey 
His  blessed  will."1 

No  season  can  be  more  proper  for  this  Prayer,  than  the 
beginning  of  a  new  year  ;  which  so  forcibly  reminds  us  of 
the  shortness,  and  rapid  lapse  of  time  : — that  time  which  was 
"  given  us  to  prepare  for  eternity."2  We  should,  on  such 
an  occasion,  call  ourselves  to  account,  bring  our  sins  to  re- 
membrance, and  "  so  number  our  days,  as  to  apply  our 
hearts  unto  wisdom  :"3 — and  thus  set  ourselves  in  earnest, 
to  "  work  the  works  of  Him  that  sent  us  while  it  is  day,  for 
the  night  cometh  when  no  man  can  work."4  Let  us,  there- 
fore, "  redeem  the  time"5  that  has  been  lost,  and  still  re- 
mains within  our  reach ;  and  by  repentance,  diligence,  pa- 
tience, and  prayer,  buy  back  out  of  the  hands  of  sin,  vanity, 
and  folly  our  misspent  moments.6 

EPIPHANY. 

The  Epiphany,  or  Manifestation  of  Christ,  is  a  feast  of 
great  antiquity,  and  anciently  included  the  whole  interval 
from  Christmas  to  this  day,7  being  the  period  of  the  appear- 
ing of  the  Son  of  God,  first  to  the  Jews,8  and  then  to  the 
Gentiles.9  The  Collect  for  the  day  refers  to  the  latter  mani- 
festation, as  recorded  in  the  Gospel ;  when  the  eastern  magi 
were  led  by  their  observation  of  a  new  star,  to  seek  out  the 
infant  Jesus :  and  directs  our  thoughts  and  desires,  looking 
forward  through  the  vision  of  faith  here,  to  the  "  fruition  of 
the  glorious  Godhead,"  in  the  eternal  and  beatific  Epiphany 

1  Jer.  iv.  4.    Rom.  ii.  29 ;  vi,  12,  13.    Col.  ii.  10,  11 ;  iii.  5. 

2  Fenelon.    See  his  excellent  •'  Reflections  "  on  "  Spending  Time  well." 

3  Psalm  xc.  12  4  John  ix.  4. 

s  Eph  v-  16.  6  See  Appendix  F. 

7  Nelson,  In  Bingham's  Ant.  xx,  2,  3 ;  a  different  account  is  given. 
Compare  August.  Sermones,  199 — 204.  8  Luke  ii.  15 — 20 

9  Matt,  ii  1—12. 

11 


122  LENT. 

hereafter.  The  Epistle  sets  forth  the  grace  of  God  displayed 
towards  us  Gentiles,  in  revealing  "  the  unsearchable  riches 
of  Christ,"  by  the  preaching  of  His  gospel.1  The  Second 
Lessons  present  us  with  other  manifestations  of  His  glory ; 
as  by  the  voice  of  the  Father,  and  appearance  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  at  His  baptism  ;2  and  by  His  first  miracle  in  Cana  of 
Galilee.3 

May  we  learn  from  this  subject,  to  value  our  Christian 
privileges,  and  labour  to  improve  them,  and  communicate 
them  to  others  ;  that  Zion  may  "  arise  and  shine,"  and  show 
that  "  her  light  is  come,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  is  risen 
upon  her."4  Let  us  unite  our  prayers  and  endeavours  for 
the  diffusion  of  the  Gospel  light  in  the  "  dark  places  of  the 
earth,"5  and  be  willing  to  follow  the  "  star  of  Bethlehem," 
wherever  it  shall  lead  us !  Having  found  Jesus  ourselves, 
let  us  bring  others  unto  Him,  by  the  purity  and  loveliness 
of  our  lives,  as  well  as  by  the  force  and  clearness  of  our  in- 
structions, remembering  that  "Jqr  this  purpose  was  the  Son 
of  God  manifested,  that  he  might  destroy  the  ivorks  of  the 
devil" 6 

LENT. 

The  word  Lent,  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  language,  signifies 
spring?  Hence  the  Fast  of  Forty  days,  already  noticed,8 
which  was  observed  by  the  early  Chi'istians,  (at  least  ever 
since  the  times  of  Irenseus,9)  as  a  preparation  for  Easter, — 
occurring  at  this  season  of  the  year, — was  called  by  this 
name. 

l  Eph.  iii.  1—12.  2  Luke  iii.  22.  3  John  ii.  1—12. 

•*  First  Lesson,  Morning.    Isaiah  lx.  *  Psalm  lxxiv.  29- 

6  John  iii.  8-  See  Collect  for  the  6th  Sunday,  which  was  added  at  the 
Restoration.  1661. 

7  Lenten— the  season  when  days  are  increasing  in  length, — Brady's 
Clavis  Calendaria- 

8  See  Page  108-  Hence  called  anciently  Quadragesima,  whence  the 
titles  Quinquagesima,  Sexagesima,  &c  given  to  the  preceding  Sundays- 

3  Euseb-  Hist-  i-  5.  c.  24.  Irenaeus  was  Bishop  of  Lyons,  A  D.  177.  He 
Btates  that  some  made  it  a  fast  of  40  hours. 


LENT.  123 

Having  already  dwelt,  at  considerable  length,  on  the  duty 
of  Fasting,  and  the  manner  of  improving  it,  it  is  not  our  in- 
tention to  enter  minutely  into  the  kind  of  abstinence  to  be 
practised  at  this  time,  or  the  various  directions  which  have 
been  given  upon  this  subject.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the 
Ante-paschal  Fast  was  a  custom  of  the  primitive  churches, 
almost  as  universal  and  established  as  the  Feast  of  Easter. 
But  in  the  length  of  it,  and  manner  of  observing  it,  there 
was  great  difference.  Let  every  Christian,  then,  consider 
for  himself  what  the  word  of  God  has  said  on  this  subject, 
and  what  he  is  able  to  bear,  with  advantage  to  his  soul,  and 
honour  to  his  Lord.1  To  fast  in  a  self-righteous,  hypocriti- 
cal, and  ostentatious  spirit,  is  downright  poison  to  the  soul, 
and  most  injurious  to  the  Saviour's  glory.  "  Is  it  such  a 
fast  that  /  have  chosen  ?  a  day  for  a  man  to  afflict  his  soul. 
Is  it  to  bow  down  his  head  as  a  bulrush,  and  to  spread  sack- 
cloth and  ashes  Under  him  ?  Wilt  thou  call  this  a  fast,  and 
an  acceptable  day  to  the  Lord?"2 

We  have  had  enough  of  monkish  austerities,  and  self- 
inflicted  penance.  But  there  are  other  and  better  ways  of 
improving  this  season  of  abstinence,  in  a  truly  rational  and 
scriptural  manner.  First ; — by  denial  of  our  ordinary  in- 
dulgences, to  mortify  the  flesh,  and  keep  a  stricter  watch 
over  our  tempers,  appetites,  and  passions.3     Secondly ; — 

1  Becon,  in  his  excellent  "  Treatise  of  Fasting,"  well  observes ; — 
"  This  is  to  be  considered  in  our  fasting,  that  we  do  not  with  our  un- 
measurable  fasts  so  make  weak  and  feeble  the  body,  that  it  be  able  to 
serve  neither  God,  nor  our  neighbour,  nor  yet  ourselves ;  and  by  this 
means  utterly  quench  the  use  and  working  of  the  Spirit,  as  we  read  that 
many  in  times  past  have  done :  such  fasts  please  not  God.  This  com- 
mandment therefore  of  St-  Paul  is  to  be  observed  in  all  our  fasts :  "  Make 
not  provision,''  saith  he,  "  for  the  flesh  to  fulfil  the  lusts  of  it."  A  horse 
that  is  too  delicately  fed,  casteth  his  master ;  again,  if  he  be  kept  too 
hungry,  he  fainteth  in  the  midst  of  the  journey,  and  doth  not  his  office. 
A  mean  therefore  is  to  be  had,  as  in  feeding  of  the  horse,  so  likewise  in 
ordering  of  the  body.  We  live  not  to  eat,  but  we  eat  to  live." — Catechism, 
&c.  Parker  Soc.  Ed.  p.  545. 

2  Isaiah  lviii  3 — 7.  Comp.  Matt  vi,  16 — 18.  Luke  xviii.  12,  Col.  it 
16,  18,  20—23. 

3  Rom  viii.  13,  1  Cor.  ix.  27.  2  Cor.  vii.  1.  GaL  v.  24.  Col.  iii.  5, 
Comp.  Isaiah  lviii.  4. 


124  ASH-WEDNESDAY. 

by  separation  from  worldly  company  and  r 
ourselves  more  exclusively  to  prayer,  reading  and  hearing 
God's  word,  and  meditation  upon  it,  and  diligent  self-exami- 
nation.1 Tliirdly  ; — by  curtailing  our  expenses  in  pleasure 
and  show,  to  counteract  our  natural  selfishness,  and  be  able 
to  give  more  liberally  to  relieve  the  wants  of  the  poor.2 
Lastly  — by  humbling  ourselves  before  God,  to  put  away  our 
besetting  sins,  implore  the  Divine  forgiveness,  and  so  be  pre- 
pared for  closer  and  more  intimate  communion  with  him  here, 
and  for  admission  into  his  presence  and  glory  hereafter.3 

ASH-WEDNESDAY. 

The  first  day  of  Lent  is  called  Ash-Wednesday*  "  from 
the  custom  that  prevailed  in  the  ancient  church,  for  penitents, 
at  this  time,  to  express  their  humiliation  for  sin,  by  lying  in 
sackcloth  and  ashes  ;"5  this  outward  sign  being  made  use  of 
in  imitation  of  the  Jewish  mourners,6  as  suitable  to  produce 
a  more  lasting  remembrance  of  shame  in  the  offender,  as 
well  as  a  greater  fear  of  offending  in  others. 

When  those  who  had  fallen  from  their  Christian  profession, 
had  given  sufficient  proof  of  sorrow  for  their  sin,  and  humi- 
liation on  account  of  it,  they  were  admitted  again  into  the  com- 
munion of  the  church.  The  Bishop,  or  Presbyter,  laying 
his  hands  upon  the  head  of  the  penitent,  solemnly  blessed 
and  absolved  him  in  the  name  of  the  Lord ;  upon  which  he 

1  Matt.  iv.  1,  2.  Luke  ii.  37.  Acts  x.  2,  30,  33.  1  Cor.  vii.  5.  Comp. 
Neh.  ix.  1—3.    Psalm  cxix.  59,  60.    Luke  xv.  16—18. 

2  Isaiah  lviii.  3,  6,  7.    Acts  x.  2,  31. 

3  Joel  ii.  12 — 17.  Dan.  ix.  Jon.  iii.  [The  annual  attempt  to  carry  out 
these  directions  may  be  beneficial,  when  conducted  with  a  renewed  and 
evangelical  spirit,  but  in  numerous  instances,  it  has  betrayed  evil  tenden- 
cies. These  tendencies  are  scarcely  less  obvious,  though  different  in  kind, 
than  those  periodical  excitements  the  injurious  effects  of  which  are  com- 
mon among  some  of  our  fellow  Christians.] 

4  The  fast  of  forty  days  commences  on  a  Wednesday,  because  the  an- 
cient church  omitted  the  six  Sundays  in  Lent,  and  these  four  days  being 
added,  made  the  term  complete. — Nelson. 

s  Nelson.    Tertullian  de  Pa3n. 

6  Esth.  iv.  1—3.    Isaiah  lviii.  5.   Dan.  ix.  3.    Jonah  iii.  6.    Matt  xi  21. 


PRESENT    DUTY.  125 

was  received  by  the  whole  congregation  with  expressions  of 
joy,  and  partook  with  them  of  the  Lord's  Supper.1 

We  are,  at  this  season  in  particular,  called  to  attend  to 
the  following  points  : — 

First ; — to  search  our  own  hearts,  and  examine  our  lives 
diligently  by  the  rule  of  God's  word;  and  if  our  consciences 
condemn  us  on  account  of  any  particular  offences,  we 
should  humble  ourselves  before  God,  confessing  our  sin, 
with  prayer  and  fasting,  making  restitution  for  any  wrong 
done  to  our  neighbour,2  and  seeking  for  pardon  and  accept- 
ance through  the  blood  of  Jesus,  and  the  grace  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  amend  our  lives.  Nor  shall  we  fail,  if  our  search 
is  impartial  and  enlightened,  to  find  sufficient  cause  for  the 
exercise  of"  godly  sorrow."3 

Secondly  ; — to  bewail  our  national  sins,  and  humble  our- 
selves on  account  of  the  prevailing  evils  in  church  and 
state.4  To  intercede  for  our  neighbours,  and  specially  for 
the  careless  and  profane,  backsliders  and  hypocritical  pro- 
fessors, that  they  may  be  converted  and  reformed ;  and  also 
for  our  church,  that  godly  discipline  and  primitive  purity 
may  be  restored  to  it. 

And,  Thirdly ; — to  do  our  utmost  towards  accomplishing 
the  same  end  in  practice,  by  forsaking  our  own  sins,  cor- 
recting evil  in  our  families,  "  coming  out  and  being  sepa- 
rate"5 from  the  company  of  the  wicked,  boldly  rebuking 
vice,  and  using  our  influence  and  endeavours  to  bring 
offenders  to  a  sense  of  their  sins,  and  to  deserved  punish- 
ment when  incorrigible ;  and,  lastly,  to  awaken  our  rulers  to 
a  higher  sense  of  their  duty  in  this  respect,  and  of  their 
obligations  to  God  and  the  souls  of  men. 

But  we  shall  have  occasion  to  return  to  this  subject  hereafter ; 
we  may  here  add,  that  throughout  the  solemn  services  of  the 
day,  she  calls  her  members  to  humiliation  and  repentance, 
making  use,  for  this  purpose,  of  several  of  those  Penitential 

l  Cyprian's  Ep.  17,  18.    Referred  to  by  Nelson.  See  also  Hooker  Ecc. 
Pol.  vi.  4.  (6.) 
i  Ex.  xxii.  1,  3,  4,  &c.    Luke  xix.  8.  3  2  Cor.  vii.  10. 

*  Dan.  ix.    Ezra  ix.  Neh.  ix.  *  2  Cor.  vi.  1. 


126  PASSION    WEEK. 

Psalms ;'  which  have,  in  all  ages,  been  the  loved  com- 
panions of  the  afflicted  and  contrite  spirit,  guiding  its 
meditations,  and  assisting  its  approaches  to  the  throne  of 
grace.  The  Collects  for  Ash-Wednesday,  and  for  the  first 
Sunday  in  Lent,  are  admirable  patterns  of  our  devotions  at 
this  season ; — the  one  directing  us  respecting  the  nature  of 
true  penitence,  the  other  the  evangelical  use  of  fasting.  The 
epistle  and  gospel  for  this  day  have  been  already  referred  to.2 

PASSION    WEEK. 

The  Church  having,  throughout  the  whole  of  Lent,  con- 
tinued to  set  before  us  lessons  of  an  humiliating  and  practi- 
cal character,  to  deepen  our  repentance,  and  stir  up  our 
minds  to  the  pursuit  of  true  godliness  ;  on  the  Sunday  next 
before  Easter,3  brings  us  more  immediately  in  view  of  that 
great  event,  which  we  have  been  all  along  preparing  to  com- 
memorate,— the  crucifixion  of  Christ.  The  Collect  points 
directly  to  his  Cross,  and  reminds  us  of  the  twofold  design 
of  his  death  upon  it, — as  the  closing  scene  of  a  life  of  unin- 
terrupted and  unsinning  obedience ; — to  be  an  Atonement, 
and  an  Example.*  Let  us  seek  first  to  know  him  savingly 
in  the  former  character,  that  we  may,  by  his  grace,  be  en- 
abled to  follow  him  in  the  latter ;  and  thus  "  be  made  par- 
takers of  his  resurrection!"5  The  Epistles  for  Monday, 
Tuesday,  and  Wednesday  in  Passion  tveek,  are  descriptive 
of  the  sufferings,  patience,  and  triumph  of  our  Lord;6  while 
in  the  Gospels,  the  accounts  of  his  passion  or  suffering, 
given  by  the  four  Evangelists,  are  gone  through  in  order. 


1  Psalms  vi.  xxxii.  xxxviii.  cii.  cxxx.  and  cxliii.  Let  the  reader  examine 
them  often  and  prayerfully.    Let  him  "  study  them  on  his  knees." 

2  Joel  ii.  1-2—16.    Matt.  vi.  16—20.    See  pp.  118,  119,  also  Appendix  G. 

3  Commonly  called  "  Palm  Sunday,"  on  account  of  an  old  custom, 
which  prevailed  till  the  Reformation,  of  decking  the  churches  with 
palms  on  this  day,  in  commemoration  of  our  Saviour's  triumphal  entry 
into  Jerusalem.  1  John  ii.  2 ;  iv.  9,  10.     Phil.  ii.  5 — 8. 

5  Collect.    Phil.  hi.  8—10.    Rom.  viii.  16,  17. 

6  Isaiah  lxiii.  5-11.    Heb  ix.  16,28. 


GOOD    FRIDAY.  127 

It  is  a  week,  "much  to  be  observed,"1  and  was  anciently 
called  "  the  Great,"  or  "  Holy  Week  ;"2  as  bringing  before 
our  minds  the  most  important  and  wonderful  event  the  world 
ever  witnessed.  Well  may  the  true  Christian  exclaim  with 
St.  Paul,  "  God  forbid  that  I  should  glory,  save  in  the  cross 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  the  world  is  crucified 
unto  me,  and  I  unto  the  world."3 

The  Epistle  and  Gospel  for  Thursday  in  this  week  refer 
to  the  Lord's  Supper,4  this  being  the  day  on  which  it  was 
instituted,  and  on  which  the  ancient  Church  generally  used 
to  receive  it,  in  the  evening.5 

GOOD    FRIDAY. 

We  are  now  come,  as  it  were,  to  the  foot  of  the  Cross ; 
Good  Friday  being  the  day  on  which  the  Church  comme- 
morates the  death  of  our  blessed  Lord  upon  it  for  the  sin  of 
the  world.     She  provides  us  with  services  very  suitable  for 

1  Exod.  xii.  42.  It  is  recorded  of  the  excellent  Rauschenbusch,  Lu- 
theran pastor  of  Elberfield  in  Germany,  that  "  The  most  favoured  seasons 
for  his  own  spiritual  edification  were  the  passion-weeks.  He  enjoyed  them 
each  whole  year  through.  He  had  experienced  that  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  was  then  peculiarly  influential ;  and  that  the  power  of  Christ's 
sufferings  communicated  itself  then  to  men's  hearts  in  an  exalted  degree  ; 
that  it  made  the  service  of  sin  disagreeable  (for  the  time  at  least)  even  to 
men  of  the  world,  and  stirred  up  true  believers  to  renewed  devotedness 
to  show  forth  the  fruits  of  Christ's  death  in  a  life  sanctified  by  God  and  to 
God.''— Memoir,  p.  207. 

2  Wheatley,  Nelson,  Bingham.    Conf.  Chrys.  torn.  3.  p  821. 

3  Gal.  vi-  14-  Eusebius  informs  us  that  "  At  the  feast  of  our  Saviour's 
Passion,"  the^Christians  of  his  time  "  were  accustomed  to  exercise  them- 
selves in  fastings  and  watchings,  and  diligent,  attention  to  the  Divine  word." 
— Ecc,  Hist.  ii.  17.  As  an  aid  to  our  devotional  exercises,  at  this  time 
"  Rambach's  Meditations  on  the  sufferings  of  Christ,"  is  strongly  recom- 
mended. 

4  Hence  called  Maundy  Thursday,  as  usually  explained,  on  account  of 
the  mandate  or  command  to  observe  his  Supper,  or  to  love  one  another  ;  but 
the  true  derivation,  as  it  appears  to  the  writer,  is  from  "Maundy" — a 
feast,  a  derivative  of  maund — a  hand-basket,  in  which  victuals  were 
carried  round  for  distribution  among  the  poor.  See  Hutchinson's  Works, 
Parker  So.  Edit,  p  221,  and  Index,  p-  346.  The  Royal  Maundy  gifts  are 
6ttll  distributed  to  the  poor  annually,  on  this  day. 

5  Wheatley 


128  GOOD    FRIDAY. 

the  solemn  occasion.  Three  Collects  are  allotted  for  its 
special  use,  in  two  of  which  we  pray  for  Christ's  Chui'ch  ; — 
first  under  the  emblem  of  a  "  family," '  and  then  as  a  "  body," 
consisting  of  various  "  members."2  Thus,  our  charity  gra- 
dually enlarging  itself,  and  extending  its  regards  from  a 
general  to  a  particular  view  of  the  wants  and  circumstances 
of  each ;  we  are  prepared,  in  the  third,  to  intercede  for  all 
mankind,  distributed  under  tbe  different  names  of  "  Jews, 
Turks,  Infidels,  (or  unbelievers,  including  the  heathen,)  and 
hereticks."3  This  is  a  truly  missionary  prayer,  and  is  based 
upon  the  true  missionary  principle,  "  the  love  of  Christ ;" — 
which  " constraineth  us,"4  to  love  all  men,  even  our  enemies, 
and  desire  their  salvation  :  even  as  our  blessed  Lord  "  died 
for  all,"  and  prayed  for  his  murderers,  "  Father  forgive 
them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do."5 

The  Gospel  and  Epistle  exhibit  to  us  the  suffering 
Saviour,6  and  the  end  of  his  sacrifice;7 — the  former,  in  the 
very  words  of  that  beloved  disciple,  who  alone  stood  by  the 
Cross,  when  the  rest  had  fled ;  and  heard  his  Saviour  say, 
"It  is  finished."  * 

The  proper  Psalms  cannot  fail  to  recal  to  our  minds  the 
Lamb  of  God,  bleeding  and  dying  under  the  load  of  our 
guilt.9  They  are  mostly  prophetical  of  Christ,  and  contain 
several  passages,  applied  to  him  in  the  New  Testament.10 
The  same  may  be  said  of  the  first  Lessons ;  the  offering  up 
of  Isaac  being  clearly  a  type  of  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus ;  " 
and  the  fifty-third  chapter  of  Isaiah,  more  resembling  a  his- 
tory of  that  event,  than  a  prophecy,  delivered  seven  hundred 
years  before  it  took  place.  So  marvellous,  so  stupendous  is 
the  foreknowledge  of  God  !     We  can  but  stand  on  the  shore 


i  Eph.  iii.  14,  15.  2  1  Cor.  xii.  12—27.    Rom-  xii.  4—8. 

i  Rom  x.  i.  2  Tim.  ii.  24—26.        4  2  Cor.  v.  14.  s  Luke  xxiii.  34. 

fi  John  xix.  7  Heb.  x.  1—25.        8  John  xix.  30. 

9  Psalms  xxii,  xl,  liv,  lxix,  Ixxxviii. 

1  °  Comp.  Psalm  xxii.  1,  with  Matt,  xxvii-  46 ;  Verse  18,  with  John  xix. 
23.    Psalm  1.  8,  with  Heb.  x.  5—7.    Psalm  lxix.  21,  with  John  xix.  28,  29. 
'  *  Gen.  xxii-    Comp.  Heb.  xi.  19. 


EASTER-EVE.  129 

of  this  unfathomable  ocean,  and  exclaim  with  the  Apostle, 
"  O  the  depth  !"'  But  the  "  riches  of  his  grace"2  are  equally 
wonderful,  and  still  more  adorable.  On  such  an  occasion 
should  we  not  be  excited  to  pray,  that  "  being  rooted  and 
grounded  in  love,  we  may  be  able  to  comprehend  with  all 
saints  what  is  the  breadth,  and  length,  and  depth,  and  height, 
and  to  know  the  love  of  Christ  which  passeth  knowledge, 
that  we  may  be  filled  with  all  the  fulness  of  God  ?"  3 

EASTER-EVE. 

Easter-Even,  the  Vigil*  or  preparation  for  Easter, — is 
the  day  on  which  we  commemorate  our  blessed  Lord's  lying 
in  the  grave.  On  this  account  it  was  anciently  kept  with 
much  solemnity,  as  a  season  of  strict  fasting,  and  watching 
till  midnight ;  and  also  was  set  apart  for  the  administration  of 
Holy  Baptism,  which  is  by  the  Apostle  Paul  called,  our  being 
"  buried  with  Christ."5  The  Collect  and  Epistle  have  a  re- 
ference to  this  usage  ;6  and  we  pray  that,  "  as  we  are  bap- 
tized into  the  death  of  our  Saviour,  so  by  continual  mortify- 
ing7 our  corrupt  affections,  we  may  be  buried  with  him  ;  and 
that  through  the  grave  and  gate  of  death,  we  may  pass  to 
our  joyful  resurrection."8 

On  this  day  of  solemn  suspense,  as  it  were,  it  is  good  for 
us  to  retire,  with  our  Saviour,  from  the  world,  and  give  up 
our  thoughts  to  serious  contemplation  of  that  separation  of 
body  and  soul,  that  awful  change,  and  eternal  decision, 
which  soon  await  us.  Death-bed  repentance  is  always  dan- 
gerous. Though  we  fully  admit  that  we  are  "justified"  be- 
fore God  "by  faith"  alone;9 — yet,  since  "faith  without 
works  is  dead," l0 — a  consistent  course  of  life,  by  faith  in 
Christ,  is  the  only  evidence,  completely  satisfactory  to 
others,  of  a  state  of  safety. 

i   Rom-  xi.  33-        2  Eph.  ii-  7-         3  Eph.  iii-  17—19.  See  Appendix  H. 
4  See  Appendix  D-  5  Rom.  vi.  4.    Col.  ii.  12.         6   1  Peter  iii.  21. 

1  It  should  be  "continually,"  or  "of our  corrupt,"  &c.  8  Col.  iii.  5- 

9   Rom.  iii.  24 — 28.    Gal.  ii.  16.    "  Fides  foeta  ante  parrum  justificat." 
See  Art.  xi.    Horn.  iii.  iv.  xxv.  Hooker  Ecc.  Pol.  vi.  4  (15.) 
i  °  James  ii.  14 — 2C.    Comp.  1  John  ii.  3 — 6,  29. 


130  EASTER-DAY. 

EASTER-DAT. 

If  we  have,  with  our  Church,  faithfully  followed  our  Lord 
thus  far,  in  his  course  of  humiliation,  from  the  "  upper 
room" '  at  Jerusalem  to  the  garden  of  Gethsemane,  the  hall 
of  Pilate,  the  cross  at  Calvary,  and  lastly  to  his  lonely  rest- 
ing-place in  the  tomb  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea ;  we  shall  be 
prepared  to  join  in  her  joyful  exultation  on  the  glad  morning 
of  his  Resurrection:2 — a  day  which  has  ever  been  regarded 
as  a  high  and  holy  festival  by  the  greater  part  of  Christen- 
dom,3— the  chief  Lord's  day  in  the  year. 

The  name  Easter  is  of  doubtful  meaning;4 — but,  as  in 
the  word  Sunday,  we  regard  not  the  name,  but  the  thing; — 
so  that,  if  we  are  careful  to  lay  aside  all  superstitious  feel- 
ings and  usages,  the  title  of  the  feast  need  not  offend  us. 

The  services  of  the  Church  are  in  harmony  with  so  joy- 
ful an  occasion.  Instead  of  the  usual  Psalm,  the  95th,  she 
furnishes  us  with  a  selection  of  appropriate  texts,  pointing 
out  the  nature  of  the  Feast,5  the  manner  in  which  we  should 
keep  it  ;6  the  practical  lesson  which  we  should  learn  from 
the  Resurrection  of  Christ,7  and  the  benefits  which  flow  to 
us  from  it.8  The  Collect  for  the  day  alludes  to  Christ's  vic- 
tory over  death,  and  his  having  thus  "  opened  to  us  the  gate 
of  everlasting  life  :"9 — and  we  pray  that,  as  the  grace  of 

i  Luke  xxii.  12. 

2  "  In  the  primitive  times,  the  Christians  of  all  churches,  on  this  day, 
used  this  morning  salutation,  "  Christ  is  risen ;"  to  which  those  who  were 
saluted,  answered,  "  Christ  is  risen  indeed ;"  a  custom  still  retained  in  the 
Greek  Church."— Wheatly. 

3  Gregory  Nazienzen  calls  it  the  "  Queen  of  Festivals."  (Orat  42.)  The 
only  dispute  among  the  ancients  respecting  it  was,  about  the  time  of  its 
celebration :  the  Eastern  Churches  keeping  Easter,  (or  the  Paschal  Feast,) 
on  the  day  of  the  Jewish  Passover,  the  14th  of  the  new-moon ;  the  Western 
on  the  next  Lord's-day  after  it.  This  controversy  was  settled  at  the 
Nicene  Council  (A.  D.  325)  in  favour  of  the  latter. 

4  Easter  is  usually  derived  from  Oster, — an  Anglo-Saxon  word,  signi- 
fying to  rise.  But  others  think  it  was  the  name  of  a  Heathen  Goddess — 
worshipped  by  our  Saxon  ancestors  in  the  Spring,— answering  to  Astarte, 
or  Ashteroth.  5    l  Cor.  v.  7. 

6  Verse  &  1  Rom.  vi.  9—11.  8   i  Cor.  xv.  20—22. 

»  1  Cor.  xv.  54.    2  Tim.  i.  10.    Heb.  ii.  14, 15.    Rev.  i.  18. 


SERVICES.  131 

God  "prevents"  or  is  beforehand  with  us, — by  "putting 
into  our  minds  good  desires ;  so  by  his  continual  help  we 
may  bring  the  same  to  good  effect"  by  entering  in  at  that 
"gate"  which  he  has  now  set  "open  before"  us.1  This  is 
a  very  suitable  prayer  lor  those,  who  having  gone  through 
a  course  of  preparation  in  the  previous  season  of  Lent,  are 
now  approaching  the  Lord's  Table,  to  renew  their  solemn 
vows ; — those  vows  which  we  can  never  perform,  but  in 
simple  dependence  upon  him,  "  who  worketh  in  us  to  will 
and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure." 2 

The  Epistle  and  Gospel  need  no  comment,  but  that  of  an 
inward  experience  of  the  uniting  power  of  faith,  by  which 
we  are  drawn  to  Christ  as  with  magnetic  attraction,  "  are 
crucified  with  him,"  "  risen  with  him,"  and  "  sit  with  him 
in  heavenly  places ;"  from  whence  "  when  Christ,  who  is 
our  life  shall  appear,  we  also  shall  appear  with  him  in  glory."3 

Of  the  proper  Psalms,  two  clearly  refer  to  the  Resurrec- 
tion of  Christ,4  and  the  others  easily  admit  of  application  or 
accommodation  to  that  event,  of  which  the  deliverance  of 
David  from  his  enemies,  and  of  God's  people  out  of  Egypt, 
were,  in  some  measure,  types.3  The  First  Lessons,  which 
describe  the  institution  of  the  Passover,  and  the  Exode  of  the 
Israelites,  are  similarly  applicable.6 

The  allusion  to  this  Feast,  in  the  proper  preface  for  Eas- 
ter-day, in  the  Communion  service,  is  too  beautiful  to  be 
omitted.  "  Chiefly  we  are  bound  to  praise  thee  for  the  glo- 
rious Resurrection  of  thy  Son,  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord :  for 
he  is  the  very  Paschal  Lamb,  which  was  offered  for  us,  and 
hath  taken  away  the  sin  of  the  world  ;  who  by  his  death 
hath  destroyed  death,  and  by  his  rising  to  life  again  hath 
restored  to  us  everlasting  life." 


1  We  may  observe  that  all  the  Collects  for  the  five  Sundays  after 
Easter,  are  Prayers  for  Holiness  in  heart  and  lifa 

2  Phil.  ii.  13.    Comp.  i.  6.    Art.  x. 

3  Col.  iii.  1—4.    Comp.  Gal.  ii.  20.    Eph.  ii.  6 ;  also  John  vi.  44.    See 
Horn.  xxvi.  and  Appendix  I. 

4  Comp.  Psalm  ii.  7,  with  Acts  xiii.  33.    Psalm  cxviii.  22,  with  Matt, 
xxi.  42.    Acts  iv.  11.  s  Psalm  lvii,  cxiv  6  Exod.  xii,  xiv. 


132  EASTER-WEEK. 


EASTER-WEEK. 

To  add  to  the  solemnity  of  Easter,  and,  in  primitive  times, 
to  admit  of  the  further  improvement  of  this  season  by  those, 
who  at  this  feast,  were  usually  admitted  into  the  church  by 
baptism : — as  well  as  by  those  who  partook  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  for  the  first  time,  on  Easter  Sunday ; — the  Monday 
and  Tuesday  following  are  appointed  to  be  observed  as  days 
of  joyful  thanksgiving.  Indeed  this  festival  anciently  lasted 
fifty  days,  reaching  to  Whitsunday ;  and  is  still,  in  some 
measure,  continued  to  the  following  Lord's  day,  when  the 
Collect  evidently  refers  to  the  Paschal  Feast.  Therefore  we 
pray  that  we  may  "  so  put  away  the  leaven  of  malice  and 
wickedness,  that  we  may  alway  serve  God  in  pureness  of 
living  and  truth."  This  Collect  with  the  accompanying 
Epistle,  furnishes  us  with  a  searching  test  by  which  we  may 
know  whether  we  are  indeed  partaker's  of  Christ's  resurrec- 
tion. Have  we  "put  away  the  old  leaven?"1 — Are  we 
"overcoming  the  world?"2  Christ  will  not  be  our  "  Resur- 
rection," if  he  is  not  first  our  "  Life."3  Nor  can  any  but 
his  believing  people  truly  rejoice  in  him. 

ROGATION    DAYS. 

The  Monday,  Tuesday,  and  Wednesday  preceding  the 
day  of  our  Lord's  Ascension,  are  calj^d  Rogation  Days, 
and  are  appointed  to  be  kept  as  fasts,  partly  as  a  prepara- 
tion for  that  important  feast,  and  partly  to  seek  the  blessing 
of  Divine  Providence  upon  the  fruits  of  the  earth  at  this 
season. 

The  wqrd  Rogation  signifies  earnest  prayer  and  suppli- 
cation, and  has  the  same  meaning  in  Latin,  as  Litany  has 
in  Greek?  The  origin  of  these  days  is  traced  to  the  mid- 
dle of  the  fifth  century,  when  Mamercus,  Bishop  of  Vienne, 
upon  the  prospect  of  some  particular  calamities  that  threat- 

i  1  Cor.  v.  7.  2  1  John  v.  4,  5. 

3  John  xi.  25.  Comp.  Rom.  viii.  11,  13.    Col.  hi.  1—5. 

4  Rogatio,  "  a  demand,  request  ;*'  Xtraveia,  "  earnest  supplication,  en- 
treaty. 


ASCENSION-DAY.  133 

ened  his  Diocese,  appointed  that  extraordinary  prayers  and 
supplications  should  be  offered  up  with  fasting,  for  averting 
those  impending  evils.1 

The  Church  has  provided  a  Homily  for  this  occasion, 
consisting  of  four  parts ; — the  three  first  inculcating  the 
important  and  seasonable  truth  that  "  All  good  things," 
natural,  acquired,  and  spiritual,  "  come  from  God  ;" — and 
the  fourth  being  an  "  Exhortation  to  be  spoken  to  such 
parishes  where  they  use  their  perambulation  in  Rogation 
Week,  for  the  oversight  of  the  bounds  and  limits  of  their 
town."2 

ASCENSION-DAY. 

Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  having  "  manifestly  appeared  to 
all  his  Apos»tles  after  his  most  glorious  resurrection," 3 
"  being  seen  of  them  forty  days," 4  in  order  to  afford  them 
full  proof  of  that  event,  so  important  to  the  truth  of  his 
religion  ; 5 — "  in  their  sight  ascended  up  into  heaven  to  pre- 
pare a  place  for  us ;  that  where  he  is,  thither  we  might  also 
ascend,  and  reign  with  him  in  glory." 6  Our  Church,  there- 
fore, having  followed  him  through  the  whole  of  his  earthly 
sojourn,  now  joyfully  commemorates  its  triumphant  close. 
Truly  it  was  a  solemn  and  majestic  scene,  when  "  as  he 
blessed  them,  he  was  parted  from  them,  and  carried  up," 
as  in  a  chariot  of  clouds  and  cherubim,  to  the  bright  abode 
of  his  Father  in  "  heaven," 7  there  to  appear  in  the  presence 
of  God  for  us  ;" 8 — as  our  representative,  in  our  stead, — and 

l  Hooker's  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  41.  (2)  Palmer  observes  that  "The  three  Roga- 
tion days  were  appointed  to  be  kept  holy  '  after  the  manner  of  former 
times,'  by  the  English  Church  at  the  Council  of  Cliffs-hoe,  a.  d.  742." 

3  Horn.  xxix.  See  Appendix  K,  where  will  be  found  a  Prayer,  well 
suited,  with  the  Pious  Homily,  to  cany  out  the  designs  of  our  faithful 
Parent  the  Church,  in  thus  fencing  with  holy  ordinances,  and  godly  admo- 
nitions, this  ensnaring  season.    See  Job  i.  5. 

s  Proper  Preface  in  Communion  Service.  4  Acts  ii.  3. 

«  1  Cor.  xv.  14—19.  6  Preface. 

7  Luke  xxiv.  51.  Comp.  Mark  xvi.  19.  Acts  i.  9-  Psalm  xviii.  10; 
kviii.  17,  18.  8  Heb.  ix.  24.    Comp.  Rom.  viii.  34. 

12 


134  ASCENSION-DAY. 

clothed  with  that  very  nature  which  he  "  took  on  him  "  as 
"  the  seed  of  Abraham."  ' 

The  proper  Psalms  appointed  for  the  day,  all  breathe  a 
note  of  triumph.2  But  the  xxivth  in  particular,  seems  to 
have  been  composed,  in  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  expressly 
for  this  occasion.  While  we  sing  those  words,  "  Lift  up 
your  heads,  O  ye  gates,  and  be  lift  up,  ye  everlasting  doors  : 
and  the  King  of  glory  shall  come  in ; 3  we  can  fancy  we 
hear  the  notes  of  the  seraphim,  and  almost  join  in  the 
angelic  chorus ;  while  the  gates  of  heaven  are  opening  to 
admit  their  glorious  Lord. 

The  Proper  Lessons  present  us  with  the  typical  ascen- 
sions of  Moses  and  Elias,4  and  the  fulfilment  of  these 
figures  in  that  event  which  we  this  day  commemorate.5 

In  the  Collect  we  pray  for  grace  to  make  a  right  improve- 
ment of  our  Lord's  ascension  ; — "  that  like  as  we  do  believe 
him  to  have  ascended  into  the  heavens ;  so  we  may  also  in 
heart  and  mind  thither  ascend,  and  with  him  continually 
dwell,  who  liveth  and  reigneth  with  the  Father  and  the  Holy 
Ghost,  one  God."6  The  kingdom  of  Christ  is  invisible  and 
spiritual.  Being  ascended  into  heaven,  he  sitteth  on  the 
right  hand  of  God  the  Father  Almighty,"  until  he  shall 
"  come  from  thence  to  judge  the  quick  and  dead."  "  Thus 
is  fulfilled  the  prophecy  of  Zechariah,  "  He  shall  build  the 
temple  of  the  Lord,  and  he  shall  bear  the  glory,  and  shall 
sit  and  rule  upon  his  throne ;  and  he  shall  be  a.  priest  upon 
his  throne;  and  the  counsel  of  peace  shall  be  between  them 
both :" 8  i.  e.  between  his  two  offices  of  priest  and  king. 
"  Seeing  then  that  we  have  a  great  high-priest,  that  is 
passed  into  the  heavens,  Jesus  the  Son  of  God,  let  us  hold 
fast  our  profession.  For  we  have  not  an  high-priest  which 
cannot  be  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities  ;  but 
was  in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin. 

l  Heb  ii.  16.  2  Psalms  viii,  xv,  xxi,  xxiv,  xlvii,  cviii. 

3  Psalm  xxiv.  7,  9.  *  Deut.  x.    2  Kings  ii. 

5  Luke  xxiv.  44.     Eph.  iv.  to  verse  17. 

6  Epistle.  Acts  i.  1—12-  Gospel.  Mark  xvi.  14—20.  Phil,  iii  20. 
Col.  iii.  1—4.  7  Apostle's  Creed.  8  Zech.  vi  13. 


WHITSUNDAY.  135 

Let  us  therefore  come  boldly  unto  the  throne  of  grace,  that 
we  may  obtain  mercy,  and  find  grace  to  help  in  time  of 
need." 

SUNDAY    AFTER    ASCENSION    DAY. 

.  When  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  delivered  his  last  discourse 
to  his  Apostles,  before  his  ascension,  "  he  commanded  that 
they  should  not  depart  from  Jerusalem,  but  wait  for  the 
promise  of  the  Father  ;"  namely,  that  they  should  "  be  bap- 
tized with  the  Holy  Ghost  not  many  days  "  after.2  This 
command  they  dutifully  obeyed  ;  for  we  read  that,  after  his 
ascension,  "  they  returned  unto  Jerusalem,  and  all  continued 
with  one  accord  in  prayer  and  supplication."3  This,  then, 
was  their  week  of  expectation;  and  it  was  a  blessed  exer- 
cise of  faith  and  patience,  thus  to  wait  for  the  promised 
blessing.4  Our  Church  sets  before  us  this  holy  example  for 
our  imitation,  in  the  beautiful  Collect  for  this  Sunday.  "  O 
God,  the  king  of  glory,  who  hast  exalted  thine  only  Son 
Jesus  Christ  with  great  triumph  unto  thy  kingdom  in 
heaven  ;  We  beseech  thee,  leave  us  not  comfortless ;  but 
send  to  us  thine  Holy  Ghost  to  comfort  us,  and  exalt  us 
unto  the  same  place  whither  our  Saviour  Christ  is  gone 
before." 5 

WHITSUNDAY.  * 

The  Church  having  patiently  waited  her  appointed  time, 
her  Lord,  faithful  to  his  word,  did  not  disappoint  her ;  but, 
"according  to  his  most  true  promise,  the  Holy  Ghost  came 
down,  as  at  this  time,  from  heaven  with  a  sudden  great 
sound,  as  it  had  been  a  mighty  wind,  in  the  likeness  of  fiery 
tongues,  lighting  upon  the  Apostles,  to  teach  them,  and  to 
lead  them  to  all  truth  ;  giving  them  both  the  gift  of  diverse 
languages,  and  also  boldness,  with  fervent  zeal,  constantly 
to  preach  the  gospel  unto  all  nations,  whereby  we  have  been 

l  Heb.  iv.  14—16.  2  Acts  i.  4,  5.  3  Verse  12—14. 

4  Isaiah  xxx.  18.  Heb.  vi.  11,  12;  x.  36—39. 

6  Phil.  ii.  9—11.  John  xiv.  16—18;  xv.  26;  1  Peter  iii.  22;  Heb.  vi 
19,  20. 


136  WHITSUNDAY. 

brought  out  of  darkness  and  error,  into  the  clear  light  and 
true  knowledge  of  God,  and  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ."  l 

This  great  event,  the  most  important  to  Christianity,  took 
place  on  the  day  of  Pentecost, 2  the  feast  kept  by  the  Jews 
in  remembrance  of  the  giving  of  the  law  from  Mount  Sinai, 
just  fifty  days  from  the  Passover,  which  answered  to  our 
Easter.3  Consequently  this  day  has  ever  been  kept  holy 
by  the  Christian  Church,  in  a  peculiar  manner,  and  may  be 
regarded  as  the  celebration  of  its  own  commencement ; 
when  the  Apostles  had  new  power  given  them  from  above, 
and  were  openly  anointed  with  those  spiritual  gifts,  which 
were  to  qualify  them  for  the  ministry  which  they  had  to 
fulfil.4 

The  name  Whitsunday  was  probably  derived  from  the 
white  robes  worn  by  those  who,  on  this  day,  were  admitted 
into  the  Church  by  baptism;5  a  ceremony  which  aptly  de- 
noted that  joy  and  gladness,  purity  and  righteousness,  which 
are,  as  it  were,  the  becoming  garments  of  those,  who  have 
put  on  Christ,  by  a  believing  participation  of  that  sacred  or- 
dinance.6 

The  proper  Psalms  for  the  morning  are  suited  to  express 
the  Church's  joy  and  blessedness,  as  the  city  and  kingdom 
of  Christ,  in  which  he  dwells  and  reigns  by  his  Spirit,  mani- 
fests his  gracious  presence,  and  sends  forth  his  quickening 
word.7  Those  for  the  evening,  celebrate  the  glorious  works 
of  the  Lord  in  Creation  and  Providence,  and  though  less  ap- 
propriate, can  never  be  out  of  place  as  hymns  of  Divine 
adoration  and  praise.8 

The  First  Lesson,  in  the  morning,  refers  to  the  ancient 
feast,  on  which  our  Christian  festival  was  engrafted.9     The 

i  Preface  in  Communion  Service.  Acts  ii. 

2  Acts  ii.  1.    Lev.  xxiii.  15,  16. 

3  More  strictly — from  the  "  day  after  the  Sabbath," — or  the  Second  day 
of  the  Feast.    (Lev.  xxiii.  15.)     Scott  on  Acts  ii.  1. 

4  See  Calvin  on  Acts.    Argument,  p.  xxvi.    Calv.  Tr.  So.  Edition. 

5  For  other  derivations,  see  Wheatly. 

6  Isaiah  lii.  1 ;  lxi.  10.    Rev.  vii.  14;  iii.  4,  5;  xix.  8.    Gal.  iii.  27. 

7  Psalm  xlviii,  lxviii.  «  Psalm  civ.  cxlv.  9  Deut.  xvi.  1—18 


COLLECT.  1 37 

evening  one  contains  a  prophecy  of  Christ's  kingdom,  as  the 
dispensation  of  the  Spirit.1  The  Second  Lessons  require  no 
remark,  being  entirely  directed  to  the  display  of  his  ope- 
rations, both  ordinary  and  extraordinary ;  as  not  confined 
to  his  first  outpouring  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  but  continu- 
ing to  descend,  like  the  morning  dew,  on  the  broad  fields  of 
the  Church.2 

In  the  Collect  we  pray  that  as  "  God  at  this  time  did 
teach  the  hearts  of  his  faithful  people  by  sending  to  them  the 
light  of  his  Holy  Spirit,"  as  recorded  in  the  Epistle;3  so  he 
may  "  grant  us  by  the  same  Spirit  to  have  a  right  judgment 
in  all  things,  and  evermore  to  rejoice  in  his  holy  comfort." 
This  seems  to  refer  to  the  Gospel,4  in  which  our  Lord  pro- 
mised to  send  the  Holy  Ghost  to  his  disciples,  after  his  de- 
parture, as  "  the  Spirit  of  truth," 5  to  "  teach  them  all 
things,"6  and  "guide  them  into  all  truth;7  and  as  their 
"Comforter,"8  to  "abide  with  them,  and  be  in  them;"9 — 
"bringing  his  words  to  their  remembrance,"10 — "helping 
their  infirmities,"  "  as  their  advocate  in  prayer,  and  "  filling 
them  with  all  joy  and  peace  in  believing." 12 

Here  then  we  see  the  extent  to  which  the  whole  Church, 
in  all  ages,  is  interested  in  the  event  which  we  this  day  cele- 
brate. The  visible  appearance  of  cloven  tongues  of  fire  on 
the  heads  of  the  first  Christian  disciples,  was  but  an  outward 
emblem  of  that  baptism  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  absolutely  ne- 
cessary to  enlighten  the  mind  of  every  believer  in  Jesus,  to 
purify  his  heart,  to  sanctify  his  soul,  and  establish  within 
him  that  "  kingdom"  of  Christ  which  is  "  righteousness,  and 
peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost." 13 

The  very  day  on  which  this  manifestation  of  the  Spirit 
took  place,  may  teach  us  some  useful  lessons.     The  feast 

i   Isaiah  xi.       2  Acts  x.  34— 48;  xix.  1—21.       3  Acts  ii.  1—12. 
4  John  xiv.  15—31.  5   Verse  17.  6   Verse  26. 

t  John  xvi.  13.  8  John  xiv.  16,  26,  &c. 

9  Verses  16,  17.  1  o  Verse  26. 

1 1  Rom.  viii.  26.  Compare  1  John  ii.  1,  where  the  same  word  irapan\i)Tos 
is  used  in  the  original. 

i  2  Rom.  xv.  13.    Comp.  John  xiv.  27;  xvi.  20—22. 
l  j  Rom.  xiv  17. 

12* 


138  WHITSUN-WEEK. 

of  Pentecost  commemorated  the  giving  of  the  Law,  written 
on  tables  of  stone.1  The  Holy  Spirit,  in  sanctification,  en- 
graves it  upon  the  living  tablets  of  the  heart.2  At  this  feast, 
the  first-fruits  of  the  harvest  were  solemnly  dedicated  to 
God.3  So  the  regenerate  are  "  a  kind  of  first-fruits  of  his 
creatures;"4  and  the  dispensation  of  the  Gospel  is  "  the  har- 
vest"5 of  the  world,  when  Christ  sends  forth  his  reapers  into 
the  field,  to  "  gather  his  wheat  into  the  garner."6 

WHITSUN-WEEK.. 

For  the  further  improvement  of  this  important  festival,  as 
of  that  of  Easter,  the  Church  has  appointed  the  two  days 
following  to  be  kept  holy,  and  has  provided  suitable  Lessons, 
Epistles,  and  Gospels  proper  for  each  day.  The  first  les- 
son on  Monday  morning7  reminds  us  that,  as  by  the  confu- 
sion of  tongues  at  Babel,  men  were  divided  one  from  another, 
and  thus  the  progress  of  Divine  truth  among  them  was 
greatly  impeded ;  so  by  the  gift  of  divers  tongues  to  the 
Apostles,  men  of  different  nations  and  languages  were 
brought  home  to  a  blessed  unity  and  all  made  to  "  speak," 
as  it.  were  "the  language  of  Canaan  ;"8  while  "  with  one 
mind  and  one  mouth  they  glorify  God,  even  the  Father  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  9  Thus,  by  the  success  of  mission- 
ary labours,  the  glad  tidings  of  the  gospel  of  peace  have 
come  to  our  distant  land,  and  been  re-echoed  from  our 
shores  to  the  utmost  corners  of  the  globe.  In  the  words  of 
the  Psalmist :  "  their  sound  has  gone  out  through  all  the 
earth,  and  their  words  unto  the  ends  of  the  world." 1C 

1  Compare  Exod.  xix.  1,  16,  with  xii.  18,  by  which  it  appears  that 
fifty  days  elapsed  from  the  Passover  to  the  giving  of  the  law  from  Mount 
Sinai. 

2  2  Cor.  iii.  3.  See  August,  on  Exod.  Ep.  ii-  xxxv.  29.  In  Janu.  et 
Cont.  Faust,  xxxii.  12-  3  Lev.  xxiii.  17,  20.    Exod.  xxiii.  16. 

4  James  i.  18.     Rev.  xiv.  4  5  Matt.  ix.  37,  38. 

6  Matt,  iii-  12.  This  was  especially  the  case  on  the  day  of  Pentecost, 
when  three  thousand  souls  were  added  to  the  Church. 

7  Gen.  xi.  1—10. 

8  Isaiah  xix.  18.    Comp.  Zeph.  iii.  9.  and  Calvin  on  Acts  ii.  2. 

9  Rom  xv  6.  i  o  Psalm  xix.  4.    Rom  x.  18. 


EMBER-DAYS    AT    WHITSUNTIDE.  139 

Respecting  the  other  Lessons,  and  Scripture  Portions,  we 
shall  only  add,  that  there  seems  a  careful  intention  to  put  us 
on  our  guard  against  false  pretences  to  Divine  inspiration;1 
an  evil  of  fearful  magnitude,  and  from  which  no  age  of  the 
Church  has  been  wholly  free :  and  none  less  so  than  those 
in  which  the  real  gifts  of  the  Spirit  were  most  gloriously 
displayed.2 

EMBER-DAYS    AT    WHITSUNTIDE. 

Another  obvious  reason  for  the  selection  of  these  appro- 
priate portions  of  Scripture,  at  this  time,  is  that  the  Wednes- 
day, Friday,  and  Saturday  in  this  week  are  Umber-days, 
set  apart  by  the  Church  for  the  examination  and  preparation 
of  those  who  are  to  be  admitted  to  Holy  Orders  on  Trinity 
Sunday.  Nor  shall  we  find  anything  inappropriate  in  these 
passages  for  such  an  occasion,  if  we  bear  in  mind,  that  the 
Scriptural  meaning  of  the  words  Prophet  and  Prophecy,  has 
not  only  a  reference  to  predicting  future  events,  but  also  to 
those  who,  being  spiritually  enlightened  themselves,  are  able 
and  empowered  to  instruct  others  also.3 

TRINITY    SUNDAY. 

Having  dedicated  the  foregoing  Festivals  to  the  honor 
of  the  separate  Persons  of  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit;  the 
Church  now  calls  us  to  celebrate  the  Trinity  in  Unity,  giv- 
ing thanks  to  the  Father  for  revealing  to  us  this  mystery 
of  Salvation,  and  praying  him  to  "  keep  us  steadfast  in  the 
faith."  After  what  has  been  said  on  this  subject  when  treat- 
ing of  the  Athanasian  Creed,  it  is  not  needful  to  enlarge 

i  John  x.  1—10.    Gal.  5. 

2  For  a  further  improvement  of  this  season,  read  Horn,  xxviii,  Ap- 
pendix F,  and  the  Thanksgiving  in  the  Communion  Service.  "  It  is  very 
meet,"  &c. 

a  Gen.  xx.  7.  Exod.  vii.  1.  Judg.  vi.  8.  Joel  ii.  28.  Acts  ii.  17,  18. 
1  Cor.  xiv.  1 — 6.  Calvin  well  observes  on  this  place :  "  The  word  -pro- 
phesy doth  signify  nothing  else  save  only  the  rare  and  excellent  gift  of 
understanding,  as  if  Joel  should  say,  'all  men  shall  be  endued  with  spiritual 
wisdom,  even  to  the  prophetic  excellency."  See  the  whole  of  his  excellen* 
comment. — Calvin,  Tr.  Soc.  Ed.  pp  86,  87. 


140  IMMOVEABLE    FEASTS. 

upon  it  in  this  place.1  The  proper  Preface  in  the  Com- 
munion Service,  with  comprehensive  brevity,  expresses  our 
belief  in  this  Sacred  Mystery.  "  Who  art  one  God,  one 
Lord ;  not  one  only  person,  but  three  persons  in  one  sub- 
stance. For  that  which  we  believe  of  the  glory  of  the 
Father,  the  same  we  believe  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  without  any  difference  or  inequality." 

The  select  Scriptures  read  on  this  day,  in  public  worship, 
each  contain  some  reference,  more  or  less  distinct  to  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity.2  But  the  application  of  the  First 
Lesson  in  the  Afternoon  to  this  subject  is,  at  best,  very 
obscure  and  doubtful.3 

IMMOVEABLE    FEASTS. 

These  are  placed  separately,  because, — the  Sundays, 
from  Epiphany  to  Christmas,  varying  every  year  accord- 
ing to  the  place  of  Easter,  upon  which  they  depend — they 
would  otherwise  have  caused  confusion.  Having  already 
treated  generally  of  the  reasons  of  their  observance,'1  we 
shall  now  only  add  a  few  remarks  respecting  such  particular 
days  as  seem  to  require  further  notice. 

St.  Andrextfs  day  supposed  to  be  placed  first,  because  he 
was  the  first  that  found  the  Messiah.5  St.  Paul  is  com- 
memorated, not  by  his  death  or  martyrdom,  as  the  other 
apostles,  but  by  his  wonderful  conversion;  so  full  of  instruc- 
tion and  advantage  to  the  Church  of  Christ  in  all  ages.6 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  keeps  two  days  in  me- 
mory of  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary,  the  Purification,  and  the 
Annunciation ;  which  "though  they  have  some  relation  to 
her,  do  yet  more  peculiarly  belong  to  our  Saviour.     The 

1  [The  author's  valuable  remarks  upon  the  Athanasian  creed  were  omit- 
ted ;  as  that  creed  has  not  been  retained  in  our  Prayer-book.  A  brief  extract, 
however,  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix,  at  Note  L.] 

2  Gen.  i.  1,2,  3,  26,  27.  Matt.  iii.  16,  17.  1  John  v.  7.  Rev.  iv.  5,  8- 
John  iii.  5,  16- 

3  Gen-  xviii.  2,  22,  formerly  applied  to  the  Trinity.  See  Hutchinson's 
Works.     Parker  Soc.  Ed.  pp,  126,  127,  160. 

4  See  pp.  102,  103.  5  John  i.  40,  41. 
6  Acts  ix.     1  Tim.  i.  12—16. 


ALL    ANGELS. —  ALL    SAINTS.  141 

Annunciation  has  a  peculiar  respect  to  his  Incarnation, 
who  being  the  eternal  Word  of  the  Father,  was  at  this  time, 
made  flesh.  The  Purification  is  principally  observed  in 
memory  of  our  Lord's  being  made  manifest  in  the  flesh, 
when  he  was  presented  in  the  Temple."  f  On  the  Purifica- 
tion, lights  used  to  be  burned  in  the  churches,  and  in  pro- 
cessions, whence  was  derived  the  name  of  Candlemas. 
But  this  custom,  savouring  of  Popery,  was  abolished  at  the 
Reformation. 

The  feast  of  St.  Michael  and  All  Angels  deserves  our 
attention,  as  calling  to  mind  the  many  benefits  we  daily  and 
hourly  receive  by  their  ministry.2  Though  we  are  forbidden 
to  worship  them,3  it  is  fitting  we  should  thankfully  acknow- 
ledge their  invisible,  but  important  services ;  and  seek  their 
succour  from  Him  whom  they  serve,  in  "  ministering  to 
them,"  whom  he  has  chosen  to  be  "the  heirs  of  salvation."4 
The  Epistle  records  the  victory  of  Michael  and  his  holy 
Angels  over  Satan  and  his  angels  :  when  that  arch-enemy 
of  souls  was  cast  out  of  heaven.5  This  conflict,  however  it 
is  to  be  understood  in  its  primary  signification,  aptly  repre- 
sents that  deadly  warfare  which  is  ever  waging  between 
"  the  Captain  of  our  Salvation,"6  and  his  hosts  in  heaven 
and  on  earth,  on  the  one  side,7  and  the  Devil  and  his  agents, 
visible  and  invisible,  on  the  other.  "  For  we  wrestle  not 
against  flesh  and  blood,  but  against  principalities,  against 
powers,  against  the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this  world, 
against  spiritual  wickedness  in  high  places."8  How  much 
we  are  indebted,  in  this  combat,  to  our  unseen  protectors 

i  Wheatley.    See  Hooker's  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  10,  quoted  p.  100. 

2  Gen.  xxiv.  40;  xxviii.  12;  xxxii.  1,  2;  xlviii.  16.  Exod.  xxiii.  20. 
2  Kings  ii.  12;  vi.  17.  Psalm  xxxiv.  7;  xci.  11,  12.  Dan.  Hi.  25;  vi.  22. 
Luke  xvi.  22.    Acts  xii.  7,  15  ;  xxvii.  7. 

3  Col.  ii.  18.    Rev.  xix.  10 ;  xxii.  8,  9.  4  Heb.  i.  14. 
5  Rev.  xii.  7 — 13.    "  Michael,"  in  Hebrew,  signifies  "  H'fio  is  as  God  ?'' 

Some  commentators  understand  it  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  See  Scott  on 
this  passage.    Comp.  Dan.  x.  13,  21;  xii.  1.    Jude  9.  6  Heb.  ii.  10. 

i  Josh.  v.  13,  14.  The  word  niNox  "Sabaoth, "  "  hosts."  (Isaiah  vi.  3,  4.) 
is  by  some  thought  to  refer  to  this/  'See  Note  2  p.  59. 

8  Eph.  vi.  12. 


142  ALL    SAINTS. 

and  allies,  we  can  never  know  in  this  world.  Without 
asserting  that  each  Christian  has  his  particular  good  angel 
to  watch  over  him,"  suffice  it  to  know  that  "They  that  be 
with  us  are  more  than  they  that  be  with  them."2  For 
even  "  the  little  ones  "  of  Christ's  family  have  their  angels 
to  guard  them,  (as  we  are  taught  in  the  Gospel  for  the 
day,)  which  "  do  always  behold  the  face  of  his  Father 
which  is  in  heaven."3 

The  Collect  for  All- Saints  Day  is  too  precious  a  gem  to 
be  overlooked,  even  in  this  slight  survey  of  the  beauties  and 
excellences  of  our  Church  services.  It  breathes  the  purest 
spirit  of  the  Gospel,  as  taught  by  our  Reformers.  With  it 
we  will  close  this  Chapter,  as  a  most  appropriate  conclu- 
sion of  our  remarks  : — "  O  Almighty  God,  who  hast  knit 
together  thine  elect  in  one  communion  and  fellowship,  in  tlie 
mystical  body  of  thy  Son  Christ  our  Lord  ;  Grant  us  grace 
so  to  follow  thy  blessed  Saints  in  all  virtuous  and  gorily 
living,  that  we  may  come  to  those  unspeakable  joys  which 
thou  hast  prepared  for  those  that  unfeignedly  love  thee; 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.     Amen."* 

i  See  Calvin  on  Acts  xii.  14. 

2  2  Kings  vi.  16.    Comp.  2  Chron.  xxxii.  7. 

3  Matt,  xviii.  1 — 11.  For  further  remarks  on  this  deeply  interesting,  but 
difficult  subject,  see  Dr.  Owen  on  Heb.  i.  14,  where  the  reader  will  find  it 
handled  in  a  sober  and  profitable  manner,  in  close  and  reverential  following 
of  the  testimony  of  scripture. 

4  The  Gospel  contains  our  Lord's  description  of  a  true  taint.  The 
Epistle,  a  bright  picture  of  the  Communion  of  the  Saints  in  glory. — Bid- 
dulph's  Essay  upon  this  Collect  is  peculiarly  valuable.  For  a  Prayer  suit- 
able for  a  Saint's  Day— and  this  day,  in  particular,  see  Appendix  K. 


APPENDIX. 


A.     [page  96.] 

To  the  above  arguments  from  Scripture,  it  may  be  interesting 
and  acceptable  to  some  of  our  readers  to  add  the  following  Histo- 
rical evidence  of  the  antiquity  of  the  Christian  Sabbath. 

Not  to  adduce  the  testimony  of  Ignatius,  in  his  Epistle  to  the 
Magnesians,  upon  which  some  doubt  seems  to  rest; — we  may 
take  the  following  competent  and  unexceptionable  witnesses. 

Pliny  the  younger,  in  his  letter  to  the  Emperor  Trajan,  a.  n. 
107,  writes  thus  : — "They  (the  Christians  of  Pontus  and  Bithynia 
in  Asia  Minor)  were  wont  to  meet  together,  on  a  stated  day,  before 
it  was  light,  and  sing  among  themselves,  alternately,  a  hymn  to 
Christ  as  God ;  and  bind  themselves  by  an  oath,  not  to  the  com- 
mission of  any  wickedness,  not  to  be  guilty  of  theft,  or  rob- 
bery, or  adultery,  never  to  falsify  their  word,  nor  to  deny  a  pledge 
committed  to  them,  when  called  upon  to  return  it.  When  these 
things  were  performed,  it  was  their  custom  to  separate,  and  then 
to  come  together  again  to  a  meal,  which  they  ate  in  common,"  &c. 
There  cannot  be  a  doubt  that  this  account,  Uiken  from  the  state- 
ments of  the  Christians  themselves,  refers  to  the  celebration  of 
the  Lord's  Supper  on  the  First  Day  of  the  week. 

Justin  Martyr,  in  his  Apology  for  Christians,  presented  to  Antoni- 
nus Pius,  a.d.  148 ;  gives  the  following  important  testimony.  "Upon 
the  day  called  Sunday,  all  that  live  either  in  city  or  country,  meet 
together  at  the  same  place,  where  the  writings  of  the  Apostles 
and  Prophets  are  read,  as  much  as  time  will  allow;  when  the 
reader  has  done,  the  Bishop  makes  a  sermon,  wherein  he  instructs 
the  people,  and  animates  them  to  the  practice  of  such  lovely  pre- 
cepts. At  the  conclusion  of  this  discourse,  we  all  rise  up  together 
and  pray  ;  and  prayers  being  over,  there  is  bread  and  wine,  and 
water  offered ;  and  the  Bishop,  as  before,  sends  up  prayers  and 
thanksgivings,  with  all  the  fervency  he  is  able,  and  the  people 
conclude  all  with  the  joyful  acclamation  of  Amen.  Then  the 
consecrated  elements  are  distributed  to,  and  partaken  of,  by  all 
that  are  present,  and  sent  to  the  absent  by  the  hands  of  the  Dea- 
cons." And  again — "  Upon  Sunday  we  all  assemble,  that  being 
the  First  Day  in  which  God  set  himself  to  work  upon  the  dark 
void,  in  order  to  make  the  world;  and  in  which  Jesus  Christ  our 
Saviour,  rose  again  from  the  dead." 

143 


144 


Ari'ENDIX. 


B.     [page  102.] 

In  answer  to  the  objection,  that  "It  is  not  in  the  power  of  the 
the  Church  to  command  rest,  because  God  hath  left  it  to  all  men 
at  liberty,  that  if  they  think  good  to  bestow  six  whole  days  in 
labour  they  may;  neither  is  it  more  lawful  for  the  Church  to 
abridge  any  man  of  that  liberty  which  God  hath  granted,  than  to 
take  away  the  yoke  which  God  hath  laid  upon  them,  and  to  coun- 
termand what  he  doth  expressly  enjoin;"  Hooker  replies — "This 
opinion  shaketh  universally  the  fabric  of  government,  tendeth  to 
anarchy,  and  confusion  ;  dissolveth  families,  dissipateth  colleges, 
corporations,  armies ;  overthroweth  kingdoms,  churches,  and 
whatsoever  is  now  through  the  providence  of  God  by  authority 
and  power  upheld."  And  again — "  Those  things  which  the  law 
of  God  leaveth  arbitrary  and  at  liberty,  are  all  subject  unto  posi- 
tive laws  of  men,  which  laws  for  the  common  benefit  abridge 
particular  men's  liberty  in  such  things  as  far  as  the  rules  of 
equity  will  suffer.  This  we  must  either  maintain,  or  else  over- 
turn the  world,  and  make  every  man  his  own  commander.  See- 
ing then  that  labour  and  rest,  upon  any  one  day  of  the  six 
throughout  the  year  are  granted  free  by  the  Law  of  God,  how 
exempt  are  we  then  from  the  force  and  power  of  ecclesiastical 
law,  except  we  deprive  the  world  of  power  to  make  any  ordinance 
or  law  at  all '!"— Ecc.  Pol.  v.  71.  (3,  4.) 

C.     [page  104.] 

TABLE  OF  HOLT  BAYS  APPOINTED  TO  BE  KEPT  IN  THE  CHURCH 
OF  ENGLANB. 


Jan.     1 

6 

25 

Feb.    2 

24 

Mar.  25 
Apr.  25 
May  1 
June  11 

24 

29 
July  25 
Aug.  24 
Sept.  21 

29 
Oct.   18 

28 
Nov.    1 

30 
Dec.  21 

25 


Circumcision.     (8th    day 

after  Christmas. 
Epiphany. 

Conversion  of  St.  Paul. 
Purification  of  V.  Mary. 
(40  days  after  Christmas) 
St.  Matthias. 

Annunciation  of  V.  Mary. 
St.  Mark. 

St.  Philip  and  St.  James. 
St.  Btirnabas. 
St.  John  Baptist. 
St.  Peter. 
St.  James. 
St.  Bartholomew. 
St.  Matthew. 

St.  Michael  and  all  Angels 
St.  Luke. 

St.  Simon  and  St.  Jude. 
All  Saints. 
St.  Andrew. 
St.  Thomas. 
Christmas— Nativity  of 

Christ. 


Dec.  26 
27 
28 


St.  Stephen. 

St   John  the  Evangelist. 

The  Innocents. 


Ascension  day   is   forty   days   after 

Easter. 
Monday  and  Tuesday  in  Easter-week, 

and    also    in    Whitsun-week,    are 

kept  as  Festivals. 


SOLEMN   DAYS 

observed  by  the  Church  of  England. 


Jan.  30 
May  29 
June  20 

Nov.   5 


Martyrdom  of  Charles  I. 
Restoration  of  Charles  II. 
Accession  of  our   present 

Queen. 
Gunpowder  Treason. 


Forty  days  of  Lent. 

The  Ember  Days. 

Rogation  Days. 

All  Fridays  except  Christmas. 


APPENDIX. 
D     [page  108.] 


145 


Vigils  or  Eves,  are  the  evenings  preceding  the  Feast  Days  to 
which  they  belong.  >  These  are  sixteen  in  number  ;2  and  are 
intended  to  be  kept  as  a  sort  of  preparation  for  the  approaching 
solemnity.  Thus  every  Saturday  is,  as  it  were,  "  the  preparation 
day"$  for  the  Sabbath,  or  Lord's  day  ensuing.  The  name  Vigil 
is  supposed  to  have  been  derived  from  the  ancient  practice  of 
"  watching"  or  spending  the  night  in  religious  exercises,  on  these 
occasions: — a  custom  which  has  good  scriptural  warrant  when 
used  in  private  devotion,*  but  does  not  seem  adapted  to  public 
worship.  Indeed,  so  many  irregularities  arose  out  of  it,  that  th 
Church,  at  an  early  age,  saw  cause  for  the  discontinuance  of  the 
nightly  watching,  only  retaining  the  old  name  of  "Vigils,"  and 
the  practice  of  fasting. 

E.     [page  111.] 

In  addition  to  the  Collects,  Epistles,  and  Gospels,  the  first 
Prayer  Book  of  Edward  VI.  contained  Introits, — or  Psalms  to  be 
sung  or  said  while  the  priest  entered  in  within  the  Communion 
rails, — of  which  the  following  is  a  table. 


THE  INTROITS  FOR  EVERY  SUNDAY  AND  HOLY  DAY  THROUGHOUT 
THE  YEAR. 


1  Sunday  in  Advent 

•i 

3 

4 

Christmas  Day 

First  Communion 
^  Second  Communion 
St.  Stephen 
St.  John  Evangelist 
Innocent's  Day 
Sunday  after  Christmas 
Circumcision 
Epiphany 
1  Sunday  after  Epiphany 

Psalm  1 
120 

4 

5 

98 

8 

52 

11 

79 

121 

122 

96 

13 

14 

15 

2 

20 

Septuagesima 

Sexagesima 

Quinquagesima 

Ash- Wednesday 

1  Sunday  Lent 

2 

3 

4  

5 

Sunday  before  Easter 

Good  Friday 

Easter  Eveu 

Easter  Day 
First  Communion 
Second  Communion 

Monday  after  Easter 

Tuesday 

1  Sunday 

2 

Psalm23 

24 

26 

6 

32 

130 

43 

46 

54 

61 

22 

88 

16 

3 

62 

113 

112 

70 

4 

5/ 

o\ 

1  See  the  Rubric  before  the  Collects.  2  See  Table  of  Vigils. 

3  Mark  xv.  4.2.    John  xix.  42.  *  P6alm  cxix.  62.    Luke  vi.  12. 

13 


146 


APPENDIX. 


TABLE  OF  INTROITS  CONTINUED. 


3  Sunday  afler  Easter 

4 

5 

Ascension  Day 
Sunday  after  Ascension 
Whitsunday 

Monday  after  Whitsunday 

Tuesday 

Trinity  Sunday 

1  Sunday  after  Trinity 

2  


Psalm  75 

83 

84 

47 

03 

33 

100 

101 

67 

119  Pt.  1 

2 

3 

4 

&c. 

22 

124 

125 

127 

129 


St.  Thomas 

Conversion  of  St.  Paul 

Purification  of  V.  Mary 

St.  Matthias 

Annunciation 

St.  Mark 

St.  Philip  and  St.  James 

St.  Barnabas 

St.  John  Baptist 

St.  Peter 

St.  Mary  Magdalen 

St.  James 

St.  Bartholomew 

St.  Matthew 

St.  Michael  and  all  Angels 

St.  Luke  Evangelist 

St.  Simon  and  St.  Jude 

All  Saints 


Psa.  12ft 

— ms 

J  34 

140 

131 

141 

133 

142 

143 

144 

146 

148 

115 

117 

11:) 

137 

150 

149 


F.     [page  121.] 

A    PRATER    SUITED    FOR    NEW    YEAr's    DAY,    AND    WHITSUNDAY, 
TAKEN    FROM    KINO    EDWARD    Vlth's    PRIMER. 

For  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

"  So  frail  is  our  nature,  so  vile  is  our  flesh,  so  lewd  is  our  heart, 
so  corrupt  are  our  affections,  so  wicked  are  all  our  thoughts  even 
from  our  childhood  upwards,  that  of  ourselves  we  can  neither 
think,  breathe,  speak,  or  do  anything  that  is  praiseworthy  in  thy 
sight,  O  heavenly  Father ;  yea,  except  thou  dost  assist  us  with 
(hy  merciful  goodness,  all  things  are  so  far  out  of  order  in  us, 
that  we  see  nothing  in  ourselves  but  thy  heavy  displeasure  and 
eternal  damnation.  Vouchsafe,  therefore,  O  gracious  Father,  to 
send  thy  Holy  Spirit  unto  us,  which  may  make  us  new  creatures, 
put  away  from  us  all  fleshly  lusts,  fill  our  hearts  with  new  affec- 
tions, and  spiritual  motions,  and  so  altogether  renew  us,  both  in 
body  and  soul,  through  his  godly  inspiration,  that  we  may  die 
unto  the  old  Adam,  and  live  unto  thee  in  newness  of  life,  serving 
thee  our  Lord  God  in  holiness  and  righteousness  all  the  days  of 
our  life.     Amen."     Parker  Soc.  Ed.  p.  468. 


G.     [page  126.] 

PRATERS    SUITED    FOR    ASH-WEDNESDAY,    TAKEN    FROM    KING 
EDWARD    Vlth's     PRIMER. 

For  true  knowledge  of  ourselves. 

"  It  is  written  in  thy  holy  gospel,  most  loving  Saviour,  that  thou 
earnest  into  this  world  not  to  call  the  righteous,  that  is,  such  as 


APPENDIX.  147 

justify  themselves,  but  sinners  unto  repentance.  Suffer  me 
not  therefore,  O  Lord,  to  be  in  the  number  of  those  Pharisees 
who,  boasting  of  their  own  righteousness,  their  own  works,  and 
merits,  despise  that  righteousness  that  cometh  by  faith,  which 
alone  is  allowable  before  thee.  Give  me  grace  to  acknowledge 
myself,  as  I  am,  the  child  of  wrath  by  nature,  a  wretched  sinner, 
and  an  unprofitable  servant,  and  wholly  to  depend  on  thy  merci- 
ful goodness  with  a  strong  and  unshaken  faith  ;  that  in  this  world 
thou  mayest  continually  call  me  unto  true  repentance,  and  in  the 
world  to  come  bring  me  unto  everlasting  glory.  Amen." — Parker 
Soc.  Ed.  p.  468. 

For  a  pure  and  clean  heart. 

"  The  heart  of  man  naturally  is  wicked  and  unsearchable 
through  the  multitude  of  sins,  which  as  in  a  foul  sink  of  corrup- 
tion, lie  buried  in  it,  insomuch  that  no  man  is  able  to  say,  My 
heart  is  clean,  and  I  am  clear  from  sin.  Remove  from  me,  there- 
fore, 0  heavenly  Father,  my  wicked,  stony,  stubborn,  corrupt,  and 
unbelieving  heart.  Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  free  from  all  noi- 
some and  ungodly  thoughts.  Breathe  into  my  heart  by  thy  Holy 
Spirit,  godly  and  spiritual  motions,  that  out  of  the  good  treasure 
of  the  heart  I  may  bring  forth  good  things  unto  the  praise  and 
glory  of  thy  name.     Amen." 

For  a  quiet  conscienae. 

"  The  wicked  is  like  a  raging  sea  which  is  never  in  quiet, 
neither  is  there  any  peace  to  the  ungodly ;  but  such  as  love  thy 
law,  O  Lord,  have  great  peace,  quiet  minds  and  contented  con- 
sciences, which  is  the  greatest  treasure  under  the  sun,  given  of 
thee  to  so  many  as  seek  it  at  thy  hand  with  true  faith  and  con- 
tinual prayer.  Give  me,  O  Lord,  that  joyful  jewel,  even  a  quiet 
mind  and  peaceful  conscience ;  that  I,  being  free  from  the  dam- 
nable accusations  of  Satan,  the  crafty  persuasions  of  the  world, 
the  subtle  enticements  of  the  flesh,  and  the  heavy  curse  of  the 
law ;  and  being  fully  persuaded  of  thy  merciful  goodness  toward 
me,  through  faith  in  thy  Son  Christ  Jesus ;  may  quietly  serve 
thee,  both  in  body  and  soul,  in  holiness  and  righteousness  all  the 
days  of  my  life.     Amen." — Parker  So.  Ed.  p.  469. 

For  mercy  and  grace. 

"  O  bountiful  Jesu,  O  gracious  Saviour,  O  Christ  the  Son  of 
God,  have  pity  upon  me,  mercifully  hear  me,  and  despise  not  my 


148  APPENDIX. 

prayers.  Thou  hast  created  me  of  nothing,  thou  hast  redeemed 
me  from  the  bondage  of  sin,  death,  and  hell,  neither  with  gold  or 
silver,  but  with  thy  most  precious  body  once  offered  upon  the 
cross,  and  thine  own  blood  shed  once  for  all,  for  my  ransom  : 
therefore,  cast  me  not  away,  whom  thou,  by  thy  great  wisdom 
hast  made  :  despise  me  not,  whom  thou  hast  redeemed  with  such 
a  precious  treasure:  nor  let  my  wickedness  destroy  that  which 
thy  goodness  hath  builded.  Now  whilst  I  live,  O  Jesu,  have 
mercy  on  me ;  for  if  I  die  out  of  thy  favour,  it  will  be  too  late 
afterward  to  call  for  thy  mercy  :  whilst  I  have  time  to  repent,  look 
upon  me  with  thy  merciful  eyes,  as  thou  didst  vouchsafe  to  look 
upon  Peter  thine  Apostle,  that  I  may  bewail  my  sinful  life,  and 
obtain  thy  favour  and  die  therein.  I  acknowledge,  that  if  thou 
shouldest  deal  with  me  according  to  strict  justice,  I  have  deserved 
everlasting  death.  Therefore,  I  appeal  to  thy  high  throne  of 
mercy,  trusting  to  obtain  God's  favour,  not  for  my  merits,  but  for 
thy  merits,  O  Jesu,  who  hast  given  thyself  an  acceptable  sacri- 
fice to  thy  Father  to  appease  his  wrath ;  and  to  bring  all  sinners 
truly  repenting  and  amending  their  evil  life  into  his  favour  again. 
Accept  me,  O  Lord,  among  the  number  of  them  that  shall  be 
saved;  forgive  my  sins,  give  me  grace  to  lead  a  godly  and  inno- 
cent life,  grant  me  thy  heavenly  wisdom,  inspire  my  heart  with 
faith,  hope,  and  charity ;  give  me  grace  to  be  humble  in  pros- 
perity, patient  in  adversity,  obedient  unto  my  rulers,  faithful  unto 
them  that  trust  me,  dealing  truly  with  all  men  ;  to  live  chastely 
in  wedlock,  to  abhor  adultery,  fornication,  and  all  uncleanness  ; 
to  do  good  after  my  power  unto  all  men,  to  hurt  no  man,  that  thy 
name  may  be  glorified  in  me  during  this  present  life,  and  that  I 
afterward  may  obtain  everlasting  life,  through  thy  mercy  and  the 
merits  of  thy  suffering.     Amen." — Parker  So.  Ed.  p.  476.  * 

H.     [part.  129.] 

A    PRAYEB    SUITED    FOR    COOP    FRIDAY    TO    CHRIST    CRUCIFIED. 

"  As  thou,  O  Lord,  wast  crucified  for  me,  so  I  beseech  thee, 
crucify  me  with  thee,  that  I  may  rise  again  Avith  thee  to  ever- 
lasting life.  Thy  flesh  was  crucified  for  me.  Crucify  with  thee 
O  Christ,  the  kingdom  of  the  flesh  which  hath  dominion  in  me, 
that  I  may  put  off  the  old  Adam,  and  by  newness  of  life  may  be 
transformed  into  thee  ;  the  second  Adam,  sin,  unbelief,  and  the 
whole  tyranny  of  Satan  being  vanquished  and  overcome.     Bring 

1  Found  also  in  Lindley's  Prayers — "  Christian  Prayers,"  &c.  Parker 
Society,  p.  189. 


APPENDIX.  149 

to  pass,  O  Lord,  that  by  thy  cross  and  painful  suffering,  thy  yoke 
may  be  to  me  made  light,  and  thy  burden  easy  ;  that  willingly  and 
gladly  following  thee,  I  may  come  whither  thou  art  gone  ;  that  is, 
to  thy  Father  most  blessed  and  immortal,  from  whom  nothing 
shall  afterwards  be  able  to  separate  us.  Amen." — From  Bull's 
Prayers,  (15C6)  Farker  So.  Ed.  p.  149. 

I.     [page  131.] 

In  the  first  Prayer  Book  of  Edward  VI.  only  the  two  last  sen- 
tences (Rom.  vi.  9 — 11.  1  Cor.  xv.  20 — 22)  were  given  ;  the  first 
was  added  at  the  restoration.  After  the  first  of  these  anthems, 
was  added  "  Alleluia,  Alleluia ;"  and  after  the  second,  "Alleluia." 
Then  followed  these  Responses — 

"  The  Priest. — Shew  forth  to  all  nations  the  glory  of  God. 

"  The  Answer. — And  among  all  people  his  wonderful  works. 

"  Then  the  Priest  added. — Let  us  pray. 

"  O  God,  who  for  our  redemption  didst  give  thine  only  begotten 
Son  to  the  death  of  the  cross  :  and  by  his  glorious  resurrection 
hast  delivered  us  from  the  power  of  our  enemy :  Grant  us  so 
to  die  daily  from  sin  that  we  may  evermore  live  with  him  in 
the  joy  of  his  resurrection :  through  the  same  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord.     Amen." 

The  present  was  appointed  for  the  First  Communion,  while  at 
the  Second  was  used  the  one  now  appropriated  to  the  First  Sun- 
day after  Easter. 

K.     [page  133.] 

A  PRAYER  TAKEN  FROM  KING  EDWARD'S  PRIMER,  "  SUITABLE  FOR 
ALL  MEN,  AND  TO  BE  SAID  AT  ALL  TIMES,"  BUT  ESPECIALLY 
ON    ROGATION    DAY,    AND    SAINTs'    DAYS. 

"  Most  merciful  Father,  grant  me  to  covet  with  an  ardent  mind 
those  things  which  may  please  thee,  to  search  them  wisely,  to 
know  them  truly,  and  to  fulfil  them  perfectly,  to  the  praise  and 
glory  of  thy  name.  Order  my  living  so  that  I  may  do  that  which 
thou  requirest  of  me,  and  give  me  grace  that  I  may  know  it,  and 
have  will  and  power  to  do  it,  and  that  I  may  obtain  those  things 
which  be  most  convenient  for  my  soul.  Gracious  Lord,  make 
my  way  sure  and  straight  to  thee,  so  that  I  fall  not  between  pros- 
perity and  adversity  ;  but  that  in  prosperous  things  I  may  give 
thee  thanks,  and  in  adversity  be  patient,  so  that  I  be  not  lift  up 
with   the   one    nor  depressed  with    the   other :  and  that  I  may 

13* 


150  APPENDIX. 

rejoice  in  nothing  but  that  which  moveth  me  to  thee,  nor  be  sorry 
for  any  thing,  but  for  those  things  which  draw  me  from  thee  : 
desiring  to  please  nobody,  nor  fearing  to  displease  any  besides 
thee.  Most  loving  Father,  let  all  worldly  things  be  vile  unto  me 
for  thee,  and  be  thou  my  most  special  comfort  above  all.  Let  me 
not  be  merry  with  the  joy  that  is  without  thee,  and  let  all  the  rest 
weary  me  which  is  not  in  thee.  Make  me  to  lift  up  my  heart 
oftentimes  to  thee  ;  and  when  I  fall,  make  me  to  think  on  thee, 
and  be  sorry  with  steadfast  purpose  of  amendment.  Loving 
Lord,  make  me  humble  without  feigning:  merry  without  light- 
ness :  sad  without  mistrust :  sober  without  dulness  :  true  without 
doubleness  :  fearing  thee,  without  desperation  :  trusting  in  thee, 
without  presumption  :  telling  my  neighbours  their  faults  meekly, 
without  dissimulation:  teaching  them  with  words  and  examples, 
without  any  mockings :  obedient  without  arguing :  patient  with- 
out grudging:  and  pure  without  corruption.  Give  me  also,  I 
beseech  thee,  a  waking  spirit,  that  no  curious  thought  withdraw 
me  from  thee.  Let  it  be  so  strong,  that  no  filthy  affection  draw 
me  backward  :  so  stable,  that  no  tribulation  break  it.  Grant  me 
also  to  know  thee  :  diligently  to  seek  a  godly  conversation  to  please 
thee,  and  finally  hope  to  embrace  thee,  for  the  precious  blood 
sake  of  that  immaculate  Lamb,  our  only  Saviour  Jesu  Christ.  To 
whom  with  thee,  0  Father,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  three  persons  and 
one  God,  be  all  honour  and  glory,  world  without  end.  Amen." — 
Parker  So.  Ed.  pp.  466,  467.  » 

L.     [page  140.] 

This  "  Catholic  faith,  except  every  one  do  keep  whole  and  un- 
defiled,  without  doubt  he  shall  perish  everlastingly :"  for  "  whatso- 
ever," saith  St.  John,  "  transgresseth  and  abideth  not  in  the  doc- 
trine of  Christ,  hath  not  God ;"-  and  we  are  strictly  forbidden 
either  to  add  to  God's  words,  or  to  take  away  anything  from 
them;"?  while  we  also  read  of  some,  who  being  "  unlearned  and 
unstable,  wrest  the  Scriptures  to  their  own  destruction."1!  The 
word  "  person,"  which  some  have  objected  to,  is  a  Scripture  term, 
and  is  used  to  distinguish  the  separate  subsistences  in  the  Divine 
Essence.5     As  when  the  Son  of  God  is  called  "the  image  of  His 

l  A  piaver  resembling  this,  but  more  complete,  may  be  found  at  the  end 
of  the  old  Black-letter  Prayer  Books  prefixed  to  Barker  s  Bible  ;  where  are 
several  comprehensive  and  scriptural  Forms. 

a  2  John  9.  3  Deut.  iv.  2     Rev-  xxii.  18,  19.  4  2  Peter  hi.  16. 

s  "  What  I  denominate  a  Person,  is  a  subsistence  in  the  Divine  Essence, 


APPENDIX.  151 

Father's  person,"  a  distinction  is  evidently  made  between  the  two, 
both  of  whom  are  God,  and  one  the  "image"  of  the  other.1  The 
distinction  of  three  persons  in  the  one  God,  is  fully  proved  by  the 
very  form  of  Baptism,  prescribed  by  our  blessed  Lord  himself, 
"in  the  name  (one  name)  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost:"  2  as  well  as  in  many  other  passages  of  Holy 
Scripture.3  The  Unity  of  the  Godhead,  however,  must  never  be 
lost  sight  of,  attested  as  it  is  both  by  reason  and  Scripture,  and 
the  very  groundwork  of  Christianity.4  Yet,  in  this  Divine  Unity, 
Revelation  has  made  known  to  us  the  existence  of  Three  Persons 
of  equal  glory,  and  co-eternal  duration  ;  and  this  stupendous  mys- 
tery, which  is,  indeed,  above  the  grasp  of  reason,  but  not  contrary 
to  its  enlightened  dictates,  is  equally  important  to  be  believed  as 
the  doctrine  of  the  Unity  of  God ;  being  peculiarly  the  foundation 
of  our  faith,  and  inwrought  into  the  very  substance  of  its  essen- 
tial doctrines,  so  as  to  be  inseparably  connected  with  them.5  The 
whole  of  the  Gospel,  goes  directly  or  indirectly,  to  prove  that "  such 
as  the  Father  is,  such  is  the  Son,  and  such  the  Holy  Ghost."  Of 
each  of  these  Three  Persons,  the  Scripture  testifies  that  they  are 
•  uncreated,"  being  all  employed  in  the  work  of  creation,  and  con- 
sequently existing  before  all  creatures.  It  also  declares,  that  they 
are  all  "  incomprehensible,"  by  which  word  is  meant,  that  they 
are  immeasurably  great  and  glorious ;  or,  to  use  a  more  common 
term,  "infinite."6  It  tells  us  they  are  "eternal,"  without  begin- 
ning and  without  end ;  and  ascribes  to  each  of  them  the  Divine 
attribute  of"  Omnipotence,"  as  well  as  the  same  incommunicable 
titles  of  the  supreme  "  God"  and  "Lord,"  or  "Jehovah  ;"7  while 
yet  there  is  but  "one  God,"s  and  "one  Lord."a  Although  the 
Son  is  said  to  be  "begotten  of  the  Father;"10  and  the  Spirit  tc 
"  proceed"  from  the  Father  and  the  Son  ;J  x  (whence  he  is  called 
the  "Spirit  of  Christ;"12)  yet  "in  this  Trinity  none  is  afore,  or 
after  other;"  i.  e.  in  point  of  time,  not  in   the  order  of  our  con- 

which  is  related  to  the  others,  and  yet  is  distinguished  from  them  by  a  cer- 
tain incommunicable  property." — Calvin's  Institutes,  translated  by  Allen, 
B.  i.  c.  xiii.  G. 

1  Heb.  i.  3.    2  Cor.  iv.  6,  Marg.  ii.  10.  2  Matt,  xxviii.  19. 

3  2  Cor.  xiii.  14.  1  Peter  i.  2.  Isaiah  xlii.  1.  Matt.  iii.  lf>,  17.  John 
xv.  26  ;  xvi.  15.  Gal.  iv.  6.  Cph.  ii.  18,  &c  &c.  Comp.  also  Gen.  i-  26  ; 
iii.  28,  &c.  4  Dent.  vi.  4.    Gal.  iii-  20. 

5  John  v.  17,  18;  xiv.  9,  10.  Compare  Isaiah  vi.  1 — 3,  with  John  xii.  40, 
41.     Acts  xxviii- 25,  26.     See  also  Phil.  ii.  5,  6.    Acts  v.  3,  4. 

6  The  original  is  "  immensus."  7  See  Table. 

s  Deut.  iv,  35.    Eph.  iv.  6.  »  Deut  vi.  4.    Eph.  iv.  5. 

iojohni.  18.  i  !  John  xv.  26.  12  1  Peter  i.  11. 


152 


APrENDIX. 


ceptions  ;  "  none  is  greater  or  less  than  another,"  in  respect  of 
His  Godhead:  "but  the  whole  three  Persons  are  co-eternal  to- 
gether, and  co-equal."1 


1  The  following  table  presents  a  synopsis  of  the  proof  of  that  part  of  the 
Athanasian  Creed  which  refers  to  the  Trinity : — 


Titles  and  Attributes  of 

tlie  Fatlter, 

the  Son, 

the  Holy  Ghost. 

God.    (Elohim) 
6co;. 

Deut.  iv.  35. 

Acts  xx.  28. 
ITim.  iii.  16. 

Acts  v.  3.  4. 

1  Cor.  iii.  16. 

vi.  19. 

Lord.     (Jehovah) 

KVplOC. 

Exod.  vi.  2. 

Jer.  xxiii.  6. 
Acts  x.  36. 

2  Cor  iii.  17. 
Compare  Numb.  vi. 

26,   with    2   Cor. 

xiii.  14. 

"  Uncreated,"  or 
Creator. 

Gen.  i.  1. 

John  i.  1—3. 
Col.  i.  16,  17. 

Gen.  i.  2. 
Job  xxxiii.  4. 

"  Incomprehensible," 
or  Infinite. 

Job  xi.  7—9. 
Psa.  cxxxix. 

Eph.   iii.  8, 

18,  19. 
Col.   i.   19; 
ii.  9. 

Psa.  cxxxix  7. 
1  Cor.  ii.  10,  11. 

"  Eternal." 

Psa.  xc.  2. 

Rev.  i.  17; 

xxii.  13. 
Heb.  i.  10—12. 

Heb.  ix.  14. 

"  Almighty." 

Gen.  xvii.  1. 

Rev.  i.  8. 

Job  xxxiii.  4. 

"  Truth,"    "  Life," 
"  Quickening," 
"  Sanctifying," 

John  vii.  28. 
Deut.  xxx.  20. 
John  v.  21. 
Jude  I. 

John  xiv.  6. 
Rev.  iii.  7. 
John  v.  26. 
Col.  iii.  4. 
John  v.  21. 
Heb.  ii.  It. 

John  xiv.  17. 
1  John  v.  6. 
Rom.  viii.  2,10,  11. 
1  Pet.  iii.  18. 
Rom.  xv.  16. 

CHAPTER    VI. 


THE    COMMUNION. 


Having  now  reviewed  the  regular  Services  of  our  Church, 
we  come  to  her  occasional  Offices ;  and,  first,  that  for  the 
celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

To  prayer  the  Sacraments  properly  succeed,  which,  preg- 
nant as  they  are  with  grace  and  truth,  when  rightly  viewed 
and  applied,  as  uniting  us  to  Christ,  and  enabling  us  to 
realize  communion  with  Him : — have  too  often,  by  abuse, 
become  fatal  to  true  piety,  the  strongholds  of  formality,  self- 
righteousness,  and  superstition. 

By  the  word  Sacrament  we  mean  a  sacred  sign,  or  repre- 
sentation of  some  spiritual  thing,  which,  when  received  as 
from  God,  by  faith,  truly  conveys  to  us,  in  a  spiritual  man- 
ner, that  grace  of  which  it  is  the  symbol.1  We  call  the 
Sacraments  "  holy  mysteries,"  not  as  if  they  were  able  to 
work  upon  us  as  charms,  in  a  miraculous  manner ;  but  be- 
cause, being  ordained  by  Christ  himself,  they  form  a  very 
solemn  and  important  part  of  the  mystery  of  our  salvation  ; 
operating  invisibly  on  the  hearts  of  God's  children,  assuring 

1  See  Church  Catechism,  Art.  xxv.  and  Horn.  xxi.  where  the  nature 
of  a  sacrament  is  thus  defined.  "As  for  the  number  of  the  sacraments, 
if  they  should  be  considered  according  to  the  exact  signification  of  a 
sacrament — namely,  for  the  visible  signs  expressly  commanded  in  the  New 
Testament,  whereunto  is  annexed  Ike  promise  of  free  forgiveness  of  our 
sins,  and  of  our  holiness  and  joining  to  Christ — there  be  but  two;  namely. 
Baptism,  and  the  Supi)er  of  the  Lord."  But  it  is  added, — "  In  a  general 
acceptation,  the  name  of  a  sacrament  may  be  attributed  to  anything, 
■whereby  a  holy  thing  is  signified.  In  which  understanding  of  the  word,  the 
ancient  writers  have  given  this  name,  not  only  to  the  other  five,  (Romisk 
sacraments,)  but  also  to  divers  other  ceremonies."  See  also  Hooker,  Ecc. 
Pol.  v.  50.  (1.) 

(153) 


154  the   lord's  SUTPER. 


them  of  His  grace  and  favour,  and  thus  "  sealing  their  souls 
to  the  day  of  redemption."1 

There  is  a  sacredness  of  character  in  every  ordinance  of 
Christ,  as  instituted  hy  Divine  authority,  and  enforced  by 
the  peculiarly-endearing  obligations  of  gratitude  and  love. 
But  in  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  there  is  an  ad- 
ditional motive  for  reverence  and  affection,  arising  from  the 
peculiar  circumstances  of  its  appointment,  and  the  objects 
for  which  it  was  ordained.  Its  very  name  reminds  us,  that 
it  was  instituted  by  our  Lord,  at  his  last  supper,  in  comme- 
moration of  his  approaching  sacrifice  upon  the  cross  for  our 
sins,  as  a  pledge  of  spiritual  communion  with  his  disciples 
during  his  absence  from  them  in  the  body,  and  a  bond  of 
union  among  themselves  with  each  other  to  the  end  of  the 
world.2  It  vividly  represents  to  believers  the  interest  which 
they  have  in  His  death,  thus  enjoying  the  communion  of  his 
body  broken,  and  his  blood  shed  for  them.  Upon  these 
they  feed  spiritually  in  the  exercise  of  a  realizing  faith ;  the 
bread  and  wine  becoming  to  them,  as  it  were,  the  very  flesh 
and  blood  of  the  Son  of  God.3  They  feel  that  they  are 
united  to  Christ  indeed ;  that  He  is  present  with  them,  if  not 
in  a  more  real,  yet  in  a  more  sensible  manner,  than  in  the 
bare  hearing  of  the  word,  or  the  other  exercises  of  devotion  ;* 

1  Eph.  iv.  30.  "Signs  they  are,  but  more  than  signs,  merely  repre- 
senting ;  they  are  means  exhibiting  (offering,)  and  seals  confirming,  grace 
to  the  faithful.  But  the  working  of  faith,  and  the  conveying  of  Christ  into 
the  soul  to  be  received  by  faith,  is  not  a  thing  put  into  them  to  do  of  them- 
selves, but  still  in  the  supreme  hand  that  appointed  them." — Abp.  Leighton 
on  1  Peter  iii.  21.    So  Hooker,  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  57. 

2  Luke  xxii.  19,  20.     1  Cor.  x.  16,  17;  xi.  23—26. 

3  "  Faith  feeds  the  soul,  not  in  the  vulgar  common  way,  but  nourishes 
it  in  a  mystical  manner. — The  elements  may  seem  very  poor  and  beggarly 
in  themselves;  but,  when  a  transubstantiating  faith  shall  turn  the  bread 
into  the  body  of  Christ,  and  the  wine  into  his  blood,  it  will  make  a 
believing  soul  cry  out,  '  Lord,  evermore  give  us  this  bread.' " — Bishop 
Hopkins'  Sermon  on  Lord's  Supper.  Works,  vol.  ii.  p.  439.  See  Ap- 
pendix L 

4  "  As  the  word  of  God  preached  putteth  Christ  into  our  ears,  so  like- 
wise these  elements,  joined  to  God's  word,  do  after  a  sacramental  manner, 
put  Christ  into  our  eyes,  mouths,  hands,  and  all  our  senses.'" — Apb.  Cran- 
mer  on  the  Sacrament.  Parker  So.  Edit.  p.  41.  See  also  Nowell's  Cate- 
chism, p.  101. 


mm 

DISCIPLINE.  155 

and  without  presumption  or  superstition,  they  gladly  confess 
with  the  Apostle  ; — "  The  cup  of  blessing  which  we  bless,  is 
it  not  the  communion  (participation)  of  the  blood  of  Christ  ? 
the  bread  which  we  break,  is  it  not  the  Communion  of  the 
body  of  Christ  ?"  ' 

While  some  have  degraded  this  sacred  ordinance,  robbing 
it  of  its  spiritual  character  as  a  means  of  grace,  and  lowering 
it  into  a  bare  sign,  or  naked  representation  of  the  death  of 
Christ  and  his  communicated  benefits;2  others,  on  the  con- 
trary, have  exalted  it  unduly,  by  transforming  the  spiritual 
feast  into  a  miraculous  presence  of  the  real  body  and  blood 
of  Christ  in  tlie  sacramental  elements.3  Between  these  op- 
posite extremes  of  defect  and  excess,  many  varying  shades 
of  error  are  blended.4  Avoiding  all  these  dangerous  rocks 
and  quicksands,  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  has  taken 
the  only  safe  and  scriptural  course  between  them,  assuring 
the  believing  communicant  of  a  real  participation  of  the 
benefits  of  Christ's  death,  and  of  his  spiritual  presence  in 
this  holy  Sacrament,  and  altogether  denying  both  these 
privileges  to  the  unbeliever.5 

The  Communion-service  was  prepared,  in  an  especial 
manner,  for  the  use  of  "the  faithful,"6  such  as  not  only 
profess  themselves  Christians,  but  are  such  in  reality.  If 
throughout  the  services  of  the  Church  we  have  observed  a 


i  1  Cor.  x.  16. 

2  Zuinglius,  and  the  Reformed  Churches  of  the  Continent,  followed  by 
many  in  England ;  though  chiefly  with  reference  to  the  other  sacrament. 

3  The  Papists,  by  their  "blasphemous  fable"  of  Transubstantiation, 
and  the  Lutherans,  by  their  absurd  figment  of  Consubslantialion ;  followed 
closely  by  Dr.  Puscy,  and  the  Oxford  Tractarians. 

4  To  those,  who  assume  the  name  of  Friends,  while  habitually  disre- 
garding the  Saviour's  words,  "Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me;" — we 
would  repeat  that  solemn,  yet  affectionate  warning  of  our  blessed  Lord, — 
"  Ye  are  my  friends,  if  ye  do  whatsoever  I  command  you."  1  John  xv.  14, 

5  Thus  Art.  xxviii.  "To  such  as  rightly,  worthily,  and  with  faith,  re- 
ceive the  same,  the  bread  which  we  break  is  a  partaking  of  the  body  of 
Christ,"  &c.  and  Art.  xxix.  "  The  wicked,  and  such  as  be  void  of  a  lively 

faith,  although  they  do  carnally  and  visibly  press  with  their  teeth  the 
sacrament,  &c,  .  .  .  yet  in  no  wise  are  they  partakers  of  Christ."  See  also 
Horn,  xxvii.  part  i.  6  Art.  xix.    Catechism. 


1 56  EXHORTATIONS. 

spiritual  tone,  suitable  for  spiritual  worshippers,  much  more 
may  we  expect  such  sentiments  in  that  more  select  "  Com- 
munion of  Saints,"  to  which  she  now  introduces  us.  The 
Rubrics  prefixed  to  it  inform  us,  that  it  is  her  design  to  ex- 
clude from  her  Communion,  in  obedience  to  the  directions  of 
God's  word,  all  such  as  have  proved  themselves  unworthy.1 
The  rest,  after  due  examination  and  instruction,  are  left  to 
the  judgment  of  their  own  consciences.  It  is  much  to  be 
regretted  that  the  exercise  of  "  godly  discipline"  has  been 
so  long  disused,  as  to  be  scarcely  practicable ;  yet,  to  a  cer- 
tain extent,  it  may  still  be  partially  revived,  in  the  way  of 
faithful  exhortation,  and  private  admonition.  Nor  can  any 
minister  of  Christ  be  justified  in  neglecting  such  an  opportu- 
nity of  sifting  men's  consciences,  and  bringing  conviction 
home  to  their  hearts.2 

THE    EXHORTATION. 

For  this  purpose  the  Church  has  provided  two  Exhorta- 
tions, to  be  used  previously  to  the  celebration  of  the  Holy 
Communion.  And,  though  in  the  primitive  Church,  where 
the  Lord's  Supper  was  received  daily,3  such  a  form  was  un- 

i  Matt,  xviii.  15 — 17.  1  Cor.  v.  5 — 13;  x.  21.  It  seems  a  minister 
has  still  the  power  to  repel  any  improper  person.  .  .  See  Wheatley. 
For  an  account  of  the  ancient  discipline,  the  reader  may  refer  to  Tertul- 
lian's  Apology,  c.  xxxix. 

~  See  some  valuable  hints  on  this  subject,  with  questions  for  examina- 
tion, in  the  Memoir  of  Dr.  Bedell  of  Philadelphia.  Seeley,  1835,  pp. 
]00 — 106.  [Although  discipline  is  too  lax  in  our  own  church,  yet  the  re- 
marks in  the  author's  text  are  scarcely  applicable  to  the  state  of  things  here 
without  some  qualification.] 

3  In  Cyprian's  time,  A.  D.  252,  the  eucharist  was  received  daily.  De 
Orat  Dom.  See  other  authorities  in  Bingham's  Antiq.  B.  xiii.  c-  ix-  7. 
But  we  may  go  much  higher.  See  Acts  ii.  42 — 46,  compared  with  xx.  7. 
and  1  Cor.  x.  16 ;  xi.  20.  In  the  First  Prayer  Book,  1549,  the  following, 
rubric  is  placed  after  the  first  exhortation.  "In  Cathedral  Churches,  or 
other  places  where  there  is  daily  Communion,  it  shall  be  sufficient  to  read 
this  exhortation  once  in  a  month,  and  in  parish  churches,  upon  the 
week  days,  it  may  be  left  unsaid."  The  rubrics  now  require  it  to  be  ad- 
ministered in  Collegiate  Churches,  "every  Sunday  at  the  least,"  unless 
hindered  by  "a  reasonable  cause."  [See  previous  remarks  on  Daily 
Service.] 


EXHORTATION.  157 

necessary ;  yet  we  shall  find  it  very  helpful  to  our  languid 
piety,  to  be  thus  assisted  in  our  preparation  for  this  sacred 
feast ;  and  to  be  reminded,  from  time  to  time,  of  the  duty  of 
remembering  Christ  at  his  Tabic,  and  "  showing  forth  his 
death  till  He  come"  again  in  glory.1 

In  the  First  Exhortation  we  see,  who  are  invited  to  par- 
take,— "  all  such  as  shall  be  religiously  and  devoutly  dis- 
posed."2 Here  is  no  exclusive,  sectarian  spirit;  no  requir- 
ing the  Shibboleth  of  a  party.  All  are  bidden  to  the  feast, 
whom  the  Lord  of  the  Feast  has  disposed  to  come.  Next, 
we  have  an  encouraging  description  of  the  sacred  ordinance 
itself, — the  most  comfortable  sacrament  of  the  "  Body  and 
Blood  of  Christ."  What  child  of  God  would  absent  him- 
self from  this  refreshing  feast?  Then,  the  design  of  the 
institution, — "  to  be  by  them  received  in  remembrance  of 
his  meritorious  Cross  and  Passion  ;  whereby  alone,"  {not  by 
the  formal  commemoration)  "  we  obtain  remission  of  our 
sins,  and  are  made  partakers  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  4 

Keeping  this  design  in  view,  we  are  exhorted  in  the  first 
place,  to  give  "  most  humble  and  hearty  thanks  to  our  hea- 
venly Father,"  5  for  having  given  his  Son,  "  not  only  to  die 
for  us,  but  also  to  be  our  spiritual  food  and  sustenance  in 
this  holy  Sacrament ;"  wherein  the  believing  communicant 
may  find  strengthening  and  refreshing  food : — "  meat  indeed, 
and  drink  indeed  "  for  his  hungering  and  thirsting  soul.6 

i  Luke  xxii.  19.     1  Cor.  xi.  '26. 

2  Acts  ii.  41,  42.  This  exhortation  in  King  Edward's  Prayer  Book 
began,  "  Dear  friends,  and  you  especially  upou  whose  souls  I  have  cure  and 
charge."  3   1  Cor.  x.  16. 

4  Acts  xxvi.  18.  Heb.  ix.  11 — 15.  In  the  first  Prayer-Book,  the  words 
stood  as  follows, — "  By  the.  which  passion  we  have  obtained  remission  of 
on-  sins,  and  be  made  partakers  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  whereof  we  he 
assured  and  ascertained,  if  we  come  to  the  said  sacrament  with  hearty  re- 
pentance for  our  offences,  steadfast  faith  in  God's  mercy,  and  earnest  mind 
to  ohey  God's  will,  and  to  offend  no  more.." 

5  Psalm  cxvi.  12,  13.    Heb.  xiii-  15. 

6  John  vi.  53 — 56.  In  the  first  Prayer-Book  it  was  thus  expressed : — 
"  Whereupon  our  duty  is  to  come  to  these  holy  mysteries,  with  most 
hearty  thanks  to  Almighty  God  for  his  infinite  mercy  and  benefits  given 
and  bestowed  upon  us  his  unworthy  servants,  for  whom  he  hath  not  only 

14 


158  PREPARATION. 

But  our  faithful  mother  teaches  us  "  rightly  to  divide  the 
word  of  truth  :"  ' — not  "  handling  it  deceitfully"2 — as  if  it 
were  all  promise,  without  threatening,  privilege  without  cor- 
responding duty.  If  this  blessed  Sacrament  be  "  so  divine 
and  comfortable  a  thing,  as  it  has  been  represented,  "  to  them 
who  receive  it  worthily  ;" 3 — renewing  in  them  the  life  of 
Christ,  and  giving  a  foretaste  of  heavenly  joy : — it  is 
equally  awful  and  "  dangerous  to  them  that  will  presume  to 
receive  it  unworthily."  Therefore,  in  the  next  place,  she 
exhorts  us,  before  receiving,  "  to  consider  the  dignity  of  that 
holy  mystery,  and  the  great  peril  of  the  unworthy  receiving 
thereof." 

There  are  some  who  dislike  all  insisting  upon  prepara- 
tory exercises,  as  tending  to  a  "  spirit  of  bondage  :"  4 — and 
we  fear,  that  the  "  Week's  Preparation,"  once  so  popular, 
and  still  too  much  in  vogue, — cannot  be  exempted  from  the 
charge  of  leading  mere  professors  to  mistake  the  form  for 
the  spirit  of  piety  ; — thus  lulling  their  souls  into  a  fatal 
slumber,  from  which  they  may  be  roused  only  to  "  lift  up 
their  eyes  in  torments."  5 

But  it  must  not  be  forgotten,  that  the  hand  of  the  diligent 
maketh  rich;"6  nor  can  we  expect  to  "grow  in  grace,"7 
without  a  suitable  improvement  of  all  the  appointed  means. 
Every  opportunity,  therefore,  should  be  embraced,  which 
favours  the  exercise  of  self-abasement,  may  increase  our 
self-knowledge,  and  stir  us  up  to  renewed  repentance,  and 
closer  walking  with  God.8  For  these  ends  the  occasion  of 
Preparation  for  the  Lord's  Supper  seems  peculiarly  adapted  ; 
and,  therefore,  when  duly  improved,  will  tend,  not  only  to 
a  worthy  participation  of  this  ordinance,  but  to  a  deeper 
and  more  spiritual  tone  of  our  general  religion. 

Not  that  we  would  bind  down  the  Christian  communicant 
to  any  legal  restrictions,  that  would  hinder  his  enjoyment 

given  his  body  to  death,  and  shed  his  blood,  but  also  doth  vouchsafe  in  a 
sacrament  and  mystery  to  give  ns  his  said  body  and  blood  to  feed  upon 
spiritually"  1  2  Tim.  ii.  15.  2  2  Cor.  iv.  2. 

3   1  Cor.  xi.  27,  29.        4   Rom.  viii.  15.  5  Luke  xvi.  23. 

c  Prov.  x.  4.  7  2  Peter  iii.  18.  8  Gal.  vi.  3,  4. 


PREPARATION    REQUIRED.  159 

of  this  refreshing  spiritual  entertainment,  on  any  unex- 
pected occasion.1  The  believer  in  Jesus  should  be  habitu- 
ally prepared  to  commemorate  the  dying  love  of  his  Saviour, 
and  will,  in  the  main,  be  found  in  such  a  frame  of  mind,  as 
to  be  always  ready  to  "  feed  upon  Christ ;"  and  hold  sweet 
communion  with  his  brethren,  in  this  holy  ordinance. 

The  Church  has  well  shown  us  wherein  the  true  prepa- 
ration consists,  in  her  first  Exhortation  :  namely,  in  diligent 
self-examination; — not  a  formal  routine  of  prayers  and 
exercises,  "after  the  manner  of  dissemblers  with  God,"  but 
a  searching  inquiry  into  the  heart  and  life,  "  by  the  rule  of 
God's  commandments  ;" 2 — "  so  that  we  may  come  holy 
and  clean  to  such  a  heavenly  feast  in  the  marriage-garment 
required  of  God  in  holy  Scripture." 3 — Self-examination,  if 
sincere,  must  lead  to  "  bewailing  our  sinfulness,  and  con- 
fessing ourselves  to  God ;"  not  only  in  a  general  way,  but 
for  all  our  particular  offences,  "  by  will,  word,  and  deed, — 
with  full  purpose  of  amendment  of  life  :" 4  at  the  same  time, 
seeking  reconciliation  with  those  whom  we  have  offended, 
and  "  making  restitution  for  wrongs  done  to  any  other,  to 
the  utmost  of  our  power ; 5  and  being  ready  to  forgive  those 
that  have  offended  us.G 

Without  this  preparation,  at  least,  in  the  general  frame 
of  our  minds,'  we  cannot  be  in  a  fit  state  to  enjoy  commu- 
nion with  a  holy  God ;   and  the   impenitent   sinner,  by 


i  "  As  for  preparation,  though  it  be  very  fit  and  requisite,  that  before 
so  solemn  an  ordinance  as  this,  we  should  allot  some  time  for  a  more 
serious  scrutiny  and  search  of  our  own  hearts,  and  the  stirring  up  of  the 
graces  of  God  within  us :  yet,  1  must  profess,  that  I  look  upon  that  man, 
who  hath  endeavoured  to  serve  God  conscientiously  in  the  ordinary  duties 
of  every  day,  to  be  sufficiently  prepared  for  this  holy  and  blessed  ordi- 
nance, if  he  be  suddenly  called  to  partake  of  it ;  and  called  to  it  he  is, 
whensoever  he  hath  an  opportunity  of  receiving." — Bishop  Hopkin's  Ser- 
mon on  the  Lord's  Supper,  Works,  vol.  ii.  p.  449- 

2  1  Cor.  xi.  28.    2  Cor.  xiii.5.  3  Matt.  xxii.  11.    Rev.  xix.  8. 

4  Psalm  xxxii.  5 ;  cxix.  59,  60.     Prov.  xxviii.  13.    2  Cor.  vii.  10,  11. 

5  Matt.  v.  23—26.     Luke  xix.  8.    Comp.  Exod.  xxii.  6,  7. 

6  Mark.  xi.  25. 

7  In  the  lirst  Prayer-Book  it  was  thus  expressed ;  "  Let  him  make  satis- 
faction .  .  .  before  he  come  to  God's  board,  or  at  tht  hast  be  in  full  mind  and 


160  FAITH    REQtTIRBD. 

"receiving  the  holy  Communion,  cloth  nothing  else  but 
increase  his  damnation.  '  The  minister,  therefore,  solemnly 
calls  upon  all  that  are  living  in  "  grievous"  and  open  sin, 
and  are  enemies  of  Christ's  Gospel,2  to  repent,  before  they 
come  to  the  Lord's  table  ;  lest,  after  partaking,  "  the  devil 
should  enter  into  them  as  he  entered  into  Judas,"  3  and  they 
should  become  finally  hardened  in  their  iniquities,  in  just 
punishment  for  so  presumptuous  a  desecration. 

But  it  is  especially  required  of  those  who  come  to  the 
Lord's  Supper  "  to  examine  themselves,  whether  they  have 
a  lively  faith  in  God's  mercy  through  Christ,  with  a  thank- 
ful remembrance  of  his  death."4  "Without  faith  it  is 
impossible  to  please  God," 5  and  especially  in  this  holy  ordi- 
nance ;  where  the  objects  presented  to  us,  as  well  as  the 
blessings  to  be  enjoyed  by  us,  are  realized  only  by  faith.G 
Is  the  Lord's  Supper  a  sign?  Faith  represents  to  us  the 
sufferings  of  Christ  in  such  an  impressive  and  sensible  man- 
ner, as  to  produce  a  holy  sorrow  for,  and  a  holy  hatred  of 
sin,  with  a  grateful  love  to  that  precious  Saviour,  "  who 
loved  us,  and  gave  himself  for  us."''  Is  it  a  seal?  Faith 
takes  hold  of  the  promises  of  God  here  made  over  to  us 
afresh — pardon,  acceptance,  grace,  and  life  eternal ;  and 
renews  the  dedication  of  ourselves  to  Him  as  "  a  living 
sacrifice."  s  Hence  it  appears  what  cause  the  Church  has 
to  declare,  "  that  no  man  should  come  to  the  holy  Commu- 
nion but  with  a  full  trust  in  God's  mercy,  and  a  quiet  con- 

purpose  so  to  do,  as  soon  as  he  is  able ;  or  else  let  him  not  come  to  this 
holy  table,  thinking  to  deceive  God,  who  seeth  all  men's  hearts.  For 
neither  the  absolution  of  the  priest  can  any  thing  avail  them,"  &c. 

1  1  Cor.  xi.  29.  Comp.  Psalm  xxvi.  6.  1  Cor.  x.  21.  "  This  twofold 
sealing  office  the  sacrament  hath  towards  all  that  partake  of  it ;  it  will 
seal  to  them  the  certainty  of  eternal  life  and  salvation,  if  they  believe; 
or  of  eternal  wrath  and  condemnation,  if  they  remain  impenitent  and  un- 
believing."— Bishop  Hopkins'  Works,  vol.  ii.  p.  444. 

2  Phil,  iii,  18,  19. 

3  John  xiii.  26, 27.  See  Scott  in  loco.  The  passage  is  a  quotation  from 
Chrysostom,  Horn.  i.  de  Prod.  Jud.  quoted  in  Becon's  early  writings. 
Parker  So.  Ed.  p.  117.  4  Church  Catechism.    Heb.  x.  22, 

5  Heb.  xi.  6.  o  jonu  vi.  35—37.    Comp.  51—57. 

7  Gal.  ii.  20.  »   Rom.  xii.  1. 


MINISTERIAL    COUNSEL.  161 

science," — quieted,  that  is,  not  by  false  peace,  and  ignorant 
presumption,  but  by  appropriating  faith  in  Christ,  and  well- 
grounded  confidence  in  his  atoning  blood.1 

Not  that  she  would  discourage  the  timid  believer  from 
drawing  near  to  "  touch  the  hem  of  Christ's  garment ;"  as 
she  did  of  old,  to  whom  it  was  said  by  our  gracious  Lord, 
"  Daughter  thy  faith  hath  made  thee  whole,  go  in  peace."2 
But  only  that  without  assured  faith,  we  must  fall  short  of 
the  comfortable  improvement  of  this  fruitful  Gospel  ordi- 
nance. 

In  order  to  obtain  this  desirable  blessing  where  it  is  want- 
ing, and  to  increase  it  where  it  is  weak ; — the  doubtful  and 
desponding  Christian  is  directed  to  make  use  of  the  appointed 
"  ministry  of  God's  word,"  not  only  in  public,  but  in  private; 
that  by  this  means,  his  faith  may  be  strengthened,  his  doubts 
dispelled,  and  the  promises  of  the  Gospel  applied, — not 
rashly  and  indiscriminately, — but  with  judgment  and  power, 
to  his  sin-burdened  and  afflicted  soul.3 

When  the  minister  "  sees  the  people  negligent  in  coming 
to  the  holy  Communion,"  he  is  directed  to  use  the  second 
Exhortation,4  in  which  the  parable  of  the  Marriage  Feast  is 
powerfully  applied  to  meet  the  common  excuses  of  being 
unworthy  and  unprepared  to  come.5  Would  we  treat  an 
earthly  sovereign's  command,  as  we  too  often  do  the  gra- 
cious invitation  of  the  King  of  kings?  "  How  often,"  says 
an  eloquent  and  pious  Bishop, '"  hast  thou  been  warned  and 
admonished,  to  fit  and  put  on  thy  wedding-garments,  for 
that  thou  wert  by  the  Great  King  of  Heaven  expected  shortly 
to  be  at  his  Supper?  And  dost  thou  make  a  conscience 
not  to  come,  because  thou  art  not  prepared,  and  yet  make 
no  conscience  to  be  prepared  that  thou  mightest  come  ?"6 

"  It  is  an  easy  matter  for  a  man  to  say,  I  will  not  commu- 
nicate, because  1  am  otherwise  hindered  with  worldly  busi- 

»  Heb.  x.  19—29.  2  Matt.  ix.  20—22.     Mark  v.  25—34. 

3  James  v.  16.    Comp.  Mai.  ii.  7.     1  Thess.  v.  14.    See  Appendix  A.   • 

4  See  Appendix  B.  5   Matt.  xxii.  2—6.     Luke  xiv.  16—21,  24. 
6  Bishop  Hopkins,  Works,  Vol.  ii.  p.  447,  448. 

14* 


162  EXCUSES    CONSIDERED. 

ness.  But  such  excuses  are  not  so  easily  accepted,  and 
allowed  before  God."  Have  you  no  time  to  prepare  for  the 
Lord's  Table,  and  yet  time  enough  for  the  world ; — the  pur- 
suits of  ambition,  avarice,  and  pleasure?  Alas!  it  is  too 
evident  that  you  are  not  concerned  about  your  souls,  as 
you  are  about  earthly  things :  and  if  you  die  in  this  state, 
you  will  be  lost  for  ever  ! 

But  there  are  others,  not  so  wholly  immersed  in  worldly 
cares,  who  yet  are  ready  to  reply : — We  are  engaged  all  the 
week  in  the  hurry  of  secular  employments,  and  are  there- 
fore in  an  unfit  state  to  come  to  the  Lord's  Table.  To 
such  we  would  answer — was  not  this  blessed  feast  prepared 
for  such  as  you,  if  sincerely  endeavouring  to  follow  Christ, 
and  be  his  disciples  indeed  1  Was  it  not  designed  to  be  the 
green  nook,  as  it  were,  into  which  the  little  flock  of  Christ 
might  retire  from  the  tumult  of  the  busy  world,  and,  feed- 
ing quietly  beside  the  still  waters,  be  there  comforted  and 
refreshed?1  You  are  afraid  to  come  unworthily.  Why 
are  you  not  more  afraid  to  provoke  God  by  your  sinful  back- 
wardness in  his  service,  and  unreasonable,  scrupulosity  ? 

"  If  any  man  say,  I  am  a  grievous  sinner,  and  there- 
fore am  afraid  to  come :  wherefore  then  do  ye  not  repent 
and  amend  ?  When  God  calleth  you,  are  ye  not  ashamed 
to  say,  ye  will  not  come  ?2  When  ye  should  return  to  God, 
will  ye  excuse  yourselves,  and  say,  ye  are  not  ready  ?" 

But,  after  all,  do  not  mistake.  The  Church  does  not  say 
that  there  is  no  need  of  preparation,  but  that  you  should 
lose  no  time  in  commencing  it.  Her  design  is  to  awaken 
you  to  your  responsibility  in  God's  sight,  to  bring  you  up 
to  the  level  of  your  spiritual  privileges  as  living  members 
of  Christ's  body,  to  lead  you,  in  short,  to  seek  and  obtain 
from  God  that  preparation  of  heart,  without  which  what- 
ever you  do  is  sin  ;3 — and  possessing  which,  through  faith 


1  Psalm  xxiii.  2.    Matt.  xi.  28.     Luke  xii.  32. 

2  Matt.  xxi.  29.    Comp.  Prov.  i.  24—27. 

3  Rom.  xiv.  23. 


COMMUNION    SERVICE.  163 

in  Christ's  merits,  you  will  become  "  worthy  partakers  of 
this  holy  table."  ■ 

THE    COMMUNION-SERVICE. 

The  Communion  Service,  like  the  Litany,  was  originally 
designed  to  be  used  by  itself,  at  a  separate  time  from  the 
rest  of  the  Morning  Service. 2  It  is  now,  however,  usually 
joined  with  it ;  but  only  a  part  of  it  is  used  on  those  Sun- 
day and  holy-days,  when  the  Lord's  Supper  is  not  admin- 
istered. It  opens  with  the  Lord's  Prayer,  a  most  suitable 
introduction  to  the  sacred  exercise  in  which  we  are  about 
to  be  engaged;3  expressing  at  once,  so  beautifully,  so 
divinely,  and  so  comprehensively,  our  relation  to  God,  as  a 
Father,  and  to  each  other  as  our  Father,  as  well  as  that 
spirit  of  adoption  and  union,  in  which  we  should  always, 
but  especially  on  such  an  occasion,  "draw  near  unto 
God."4 

Purity  being  required  of  those  who  approach  God's  altar,5 
and  the  state  of  the  heart  the  chief  concern  in  his  sight,6 
who  regards  love  as  "the  fulfilling  of  the  law;"7 — how 
appropriately  are  we  invited  to  join  in  that  most  devout  and 
spiritual  Collect  commencing,  "  Almighty  God,  unto  whom 
all  hearts  are  open,  all  desires  known,  and  from  whom  no 
secrets  are  hid."3  Omnipotence  and  Omniscience  are  those 
attributes  of  the  Divine  nature,  which  are  the  most  terrible 
to  a  presumptuous  sinner,  who  can  neither  resist  his  hand, 
nor  escape  his  eye.9  To  him  we  pray,  that  he  may  "cleanse 
the  thoughts  of  our  hearts  by  the  inspiration  of  his  Holy 

l   Matt.  xxii.  11— 13.  2  See  Appendix  C. 

3  The  ancient  Church  expounded  the  Lord's  Prayer  with  a  peculiar 
reference  to  the  Holy  Communion;  especially  that  petition — "Give  us  this 
day  our  daily  bread."  See  Bingham's  Antiq.  B.  x.  c.  v.  3,  9,  and  xiii.  c.  vii. 
3,  c.  ix.  7. 

4  Rom.  viii.  15.     Heb.  vii.  19;  x.  22.    Comp.  Matt.  v.  23,  24. 

s  Exod.  xxx.  19,  20.  Psalm  xxvi.  6.  Comp.  Exod.  xix.  10,  11 
2  Chron.  xxx.  18,  19.     Isaiah  i.  15,  16. 

6  Matt.  v.  8  7   Matt.  xxii.  37.     Rom.  xiii.  10. 

a  Kings  viii.  39.   Job  xiii.  2.    Psalm  xxxviii.  9.   Jer.  xvii.  10.    Heb.  iv.  13. 
9  Job  xxxiv.  22  ;  xl.  9.     Psalm  rxxxix.  1—3.  11,  12. 


164  THE    COMMANDMENTS. 

Spirit." '  It  is  the  heart  that  is  corrupt,  and  the  heart  that 
must  be  purified.2  Nothing  but  love  can  do  this ; — "  the 
love  of  God,  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost."3 
And  although  we  can  never  be  clean  in  His  sight,4  nor  love 
Him  as  we  ought ;  yet,  when  sanctified  by  His  Spirit,  he 
will  graciously  accept  our  sin-polluted  services,  through 
our  Redeemer's  merits  ; — for  to  love  him  sincerely  and 
above  all  things,  is,  in  his  account,  to  "  love  him  per- 
fectly." j 

Then  the  "  Priest,  turning  to  the  people,"  addressing 
them  in  God's  name,  "  rehearses  the  Ten  Commandments  ; 
and  the  people,  still  kneeling,"  in  expression  of  the  deepest 
reverence  and  humiliation,  "  after  every  commandment,  ask 
God  mercy  for  their  transgression  thereof  for  the  time  past, 
and  grace  to  keep  the  same  for  the  time  to  come."7  This 
part  of  the  service  was  first  introduced  by  our  Reformers  in 
1552  ;8  and  is  well  calculated  to  remind  us  of  our  baptismal 
vows,  make  us  feel  our  need  of  pardon,  produce  sincere 
contrition  for  sin,  and  so  prepare  us  for  the  assurance  of 
forgiveness,  and  kindle  our  desires  after  an  increase  of 
holiness. 

Some  mistaken  Christians  may  deem  this  repetition  a 
merely  legal  service.  But  we  "  have  not  so  learned 
Christ,"9  as  to  suppose,  that  "  having  redeemed  us  from  the 
curse  of  the  law," l0  he  has  also  set  us  free  from  its  authority 
as  grille  of  life  and  duty.11  The  Gospel  teaches  us  that  the 
Publican,  who  cried  "  God,  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner,"  was 


1  Psalm  li.  10—12.    Ezek.  xxxvi.  25, 26. 

2  Prov.  xx.  9.    Jer.  xvii.  9.    James  iv.  8.  3  Rom,  v.  5. 

4  Job  ix.  30,  31 ;  xv.  14—16 ;  xxv.  4—6.    Jer.  ii.  22. 

5  Matt.  xxii.  37.  6    l  John  ii.  5 ;  iv.  12.  7   Rubric. 

8  In  the  First  Prayer-Book  of  1519,  after  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  Col- 
lect, was  said  the  Psalm  appointed  for  the  Introit.  (See  ch.  v.  K.)  Then 
the  Shorter  Litany— "Then  the  Priest  standing  at  God's  Board  shall 
begin — 'Glory  be  to  God  on  high.'  The  Clerks — 'And  in  earth,  peace,' 
&c- ;  the  Hymn  now  placed  in  the  post-communion.  'Then  the  priest 
shall  turn  him  to  the  people  and  say — 'The  Lord  be  with  you,'"  &c.  as  in 
the  Daily  Service. 

»  Eph.  iv.  20.  I  o  Gal.  iii.  13.  i 1  Rom.  iii.  31.    See  Art.  vii. 


PKEACHING.  165 

the  justified  and  accepted  worshipper.1  The  promise  of  the 
New  Covenant,  of  which  this  Sacrament  is  a  seal,  engages 
to  write  the  laws  of  God  upon  our  hearts  ;2  nor  is  the  yoke 
of  Christ,  the  law  of  love,3  any  other  than  a  "  law  of  liberty."4 
While  we  pray,  therefore,  to  God  to  "  incline  our  hearts  to 
keep"  each  separate  commandment,5  we  may  add  with 
Augustine,  "  Grant  what  thou  commandest,  and  command 
what  thou  wilt,"c  it  shall  be  my  pleasure  and  privilege  to 
obey. 

Next  is  read  the  Collect  for  the  day,  with  the  Epistle  and 
Gospel,  to  which  we  have  before  alluded.7 

At  this  point  of  the  service  a  pause  usually  follows,  which 
is  relieved  by  singing  a  Psalm  or  Hymn ; — a  delightful,  as 
well  as  scriptural  accompaniment  of  Public  Worship.8  The 
preacher  then  ascends  the  pulpit,9  and  delivers  the  Sermon,10 
or  Homily." 

The  preaching  of  the  Gospel  was  the  main  instrument  of 
the  Reformation ;  and  has  ever  been  "  the  rod  of  Jehovah's 
power,"12  stretched  out  for  the  revival  of  true  religion,  and 

i  Luke  xviii.  13,  14.  2  Heb.  viii.  10. 

3  Gal.  v.  14.  4  James  i.  25 ;  ii.  12.  5  Psalm  cxix.  36. 

6  "  Da  quod  jubes,  et  jube  quod  vis."    Confes.  x.  29. 

1 1n  the  First  Prayer  Book,  after  the  Gospel  was  given  out,  "  the 
clerks  and  people"  were  to  answer,  "  Glory  be.  to  thee,  O  Lord ;"  a  custom 
still  retained,  though  the  rubric  was  omitted  in  future  editions.  On  the 
posture  of  standing  while  the  Gospel  is  read,  see  Hooker.  Ecc.  Pol. 
v.  30.  (3.) 

s  Ezra  iii.  11.    Matt.  xxvi.  30.     1  Cor.  xiv.  15.  9  Neh  viii.  4. 

io  It  is  scarcely  needful  to  mention,  that  Sermons  are  also  frequently  de- 
livered, at  the  close  of  the  Evening  Service. 

1 1  Homily,  bpi\(a,  "  a  plain  discourse.''  The  First  Book  of  Homilies  is 
supposed  to  have  been  the  work  of  Archbishop  Cranmer,  assisted  by 
Bishops  Ridley  and  Latimer,  and  contains  twelve  discourses,  published 
in  1547.  The  Second  Book,  (except  the  Homily  on  Rebellion)  was  written 
about  the  End  of  King  Edward's  reign,  probably  by  Bishop  Jewel,  and 
was  published  in  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign,  1562.  It  contains  twenty-one 
Homilies.  Homely  as  these  discourses  are  in  their  style,  and  antiquated 
in  language,  they  were  very  "  necessary  for  the  times"  in  which  they 
were  composed,  (Art.  xxxv.)  and  are  a  rich  mine  of  spiritual  truth,  from 
which,  "  godly  and  wholesome  doctrine"  may  still  be  drawn  to  replenish 
the  Church's  treasures. 

1  2  Psalm,  ex.  2.    Comp.  1  Cor.  i.  21. 


1G6  OFFERTORY. 

the  diffusion  of  Christianity  in  the  world.  Far  distant  be 
the  day  when  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  shall  be  re- 
miss in  her  attention  to  preaching ;  for  however  gross  and 
palpable  the  error  of  undervaluing  the  Prayers  of  the  con- 
gregation, yet  equally  if  not  more  dangerous  is  the  opposite 
extreme,  of  setting  light  by  the  preaching  of  "  Christ  cruci- 
fied."1 Neither,  however,  can  be  tolerated,  nor  should  we 
ever  be  seduced  to  suppose  that  one  ordinance  of  God  may 
be  decried,  for  the  purpose  of  exalting  another.2 

THE    CELEBRATION. 

Thus  far  the  Church  proceeds  with  the  service  every 
Sunday  and  Holy-day,  even  when  there  is  no  Communion. 

When  there  is  a  Communion,  the  congregation  not  com- 
municating having  been  dismissed,3  the  Priest  returns  to  the 
Lord's  Table,4  and  reads  the  "  Offertory"  sentences ;  con- 
sisting of  suitable  texts,  exhorting  us  to  the  duty  of  alms- 
giving, and  Christian  liberality.  The  Israelites  were  com- 
manded "not  to  appear  before  the  Lord  empty,"5  at  their 
solemn  feasts ;  and  can  we  approach  the  table  of  the  Lord 
without  a  thank-offering  of  gratitude  for  the  grand  mercy  of 
redemption,  and  a  token  of  communion  with  our  poorer 
brethren,  who  are  united  with  us  in  the  body  of  Christ,  and 
are  about  to  share  with  us  in  the  same  heavenly  feast."0 
But,  at  the  same  time,  let  us  beware  of  self-righteousness. 
We  would  "devise  liberal  things,"7  "without  grudging;"3 
we  would  not  "  offer  to  the  Lord  that  which  costs  us 
nothing,"9  which  requires  no  sacrifice,  and  therefore  ex- 
presses no  honourable  sentiment.  But  let  us  "  take  heed 
that  we  do  not  our  alms  to  be  seen  of  men," 10  nor  "  think 

i  1  Cor.  i.  23;  ii.  2.  2  See  Hooker,  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  22. 

3  Hence  the  ancient  name  "  Missa,"  Mass,  i.  e.  "  the  dismissal  of  the 
Catechumens."  The  First  Prayer  Book  had  this  title  prefixed  to  the 
Service. — "  The  Supper  of  the  Lord,  and  the  Holy  Communion,  commonly 
called  the  Mass."  Respecting  the  termination  of  the  Ante-Communion, 
see  Appendix  D. 

4  On  the  words  Priests,  Altar,  see  Appendix  E.  5  Deut.  xvi.  1G,  17. 
c  Gal.  ii,  10.  James  i.  9.  7  Isaiah  xxxii.  8.  8  1  Peter  iv.  9. 
9  2  Sam.  xxiv.  24.                       1  o  Matt,  xxiii  5. 


PRAYER    FOR    CHURCH    MILITANT.  167 

that  the  gift  of  God  can  be  purchased  with  money."  "  Freely 
ye  have  received,"  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Gospel,  of  mere 
grace,  and  without  any  work  or  deserving:  "freely  give,"2 
is  its  corresponding  duty,  without  partiality,  selfishness,  or 
hypocrisy. 

Having  presented  to  the  Lord  our  offerings  of  gratitude 
and  love,  the  Minister  implores  the  Divine  acceptance  of 
them,  while  we  join  in  a  still  higher  charity,  that  of  Prayer 
for  "  the  whole  state  of  Christ's  Church  militant  here  upon 
earth."3  It  is  a  truly  noble  and  sublime  form  of  devotion, 
in  which  we  intercede  for  all  our  brethren  and  fellow-soldiers, 
who  are  engaged  in  the  same  spiritual  warfare  against  the 
world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil,  that  they  may  "  stand  fast  in 
one  spirit,  with  one  mind,  striving  together  for  the  faith  of 
the  Gospel;"4  and  as  good  comrades  in  one  army,  may 
"  agree  in  the  truth  of  God's  holy  word,  and  live  in  unity 
and  godly  love."5  We  pray  for  the  living.  For  the  de- 
parted saints  we  give  God  thanks,  as  we  are  bound  to  do  ;6 
and  ask  for  ourselves  "  grace  so  to  follow  their  good  ex- 
amples, that  with  them  we  may  be  partakers  of  his  heavenly 
kingdom." 

We  are  now  about  to  enter,  as  it  were,  into  the  Holy 
Place.  A  Table  is  prepared,  immediately  before  the  veil,  of 
"  heavenly  bread,"  not  for  "  sJiew"  as  that  of  old,  to  be 
presented  to  God  for  us  ;8  but  on  which  the  spiritual  priest- 
hood9 may  feed,  yea  feast  upon  the  "  sacrifice  of  our  Peace- 
offering,"  lu  with  humble  boldness ;  even  as  "  the  nobles  of 
the  children  of  Israel  did  eat  and  drink"  "  in  the  presence  of 
Jehovah. 

And  now  a  "  candlestick  of  pure  gold "  is  lighted  up 


lActs  viii.  20.  2  Matt.  x.  8. 

3  Eph.  vi.   12.    In  the  First  Prayer  Book,  this  Prayer  follows  the 
Anthem.    "  Holy,  holy,"  &c. 

4  Phil-  i.  27.  5  Eph.  iv.  1—4.  6  Col.  i.  12.    2  Thess.  ii.  13. 

7  Heb.  vi.  12;  xiii.  7,  8.     On  Prayer  for  the  Dead.      See  Appendix  F. 

8  Exod.  xxv.  30.    Heb.  ix  2. 

9  Lev.  xxiv.  5 — 9.     1  Peter  ii.  5,  9.     Rev.  i.  6. 

i  o  Lev.  iii.  1.    Eph.  ii.  14.    Col.  i.  20.  i 1  Exod.  xxiv.  11. 


168  EXHORTATION    TO    COMMUNICANTS. 


before  the  Table,1  to  illuminate,  as  it  were,  these  holy  mys- 
teries, and  display  their  true  character  to  the  assembled 
guests  ; — as  a  sublime  and  sacred,  yet  a  simple  and  reason- 
able service  ;"2 — as  far  remote  from  the  senseless  formality 
of  an  unmeaning  spectacle,  as  from  the  obscurity  of  a  gross 
and  gloomy  superstition. 

What  affectionate  earnestness  marks  this  solemn  exhor- 
tation,3 "  Dearly  beloved  in  the  Lord,  ye  that  mind  to  come 
to  the  holy  Communion  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  our 
Saviour  Christ,  must  consider,  &c."  Again  the  fence  is 
secured  against  the  profane  intruder,  not  indeed  by  the  iron 
bars  of  rigid  discipline,  but  by  forcible  appeals  to  the  con- 
science and  the  heart.  How  sweet  is  the  encouragement 
offered  to  those  who  approach  this  Table  "  with  a  true  peni- 
tent heart  and  lively  faith."  "  Then  we  spiritually  eat  the 
flesh  of  Christ,  and  drink  his  blood;4  then  we  dwell  in 
Christ,  and  Christ  in  us  ;  we  are  one  with  Christ,  and 
Christ  with  us."5  Again,  how  terrible  is  the  threatening 
denounced  against  those  who  would  receive  unworthily. 
Let  such,  even  now,  pause  and  tremble !  "  They  are  guilty 
of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  our  Saviour ; 6  they  eat 
and  drink  their  own  damnation 7  not  considering  the  Lord's 
Body;8  they  kindle  God's  wrath  against  them  ;  they  pro- 

i  Exod.  xxv.  31;  xxvi.  35.    Heb.  ix.  2.  2  Rom.  xii.  1. 

3  In  the  First  Prayer  Book,  this  exhortation  follows  the  Nicene  Creed, 
with  this  direction  prefixed,  that  if  in  the  Sermon  or  Homily,  "  the  people 
be  not  exhorted  to  the  worthy  receiving  of  the  Holy  Sacrament, — then 
shall  the  curate  give  this  exhortation." 

4  1  Cor.  x.  16.    Comp.  John  vi.  55,  56. 

s  John  xv.  4;  xvii.  20—23.    1  John  iii.  24;  iv.  12, 16. 

6  1  Cor.  xi.  27. 

7  Kptpa  (1  Cor.  xi.  29,)  should  rather  be  translated  "condemnation 
or  "judgment,"  as  in  the  margin.  Temporal  judgments  seem  principally 
though  not  exclusively,  intended.  The  words  "  damn,"  "  condemn,"  and 
their  derivatives,  have  become  more  fixed  in  their  meaniug  since  the 
period  of  the  English  translation  of  the  Bible.  See  Rom.  xiii.  2.<w«.  xiv 
23.  Karaicpivb)-  1  Tim.  v.  12.  /cpi^a,  compared  with  John  v.  24.  Jude  4. 
Kpipa,     Rom.  viii.  1,  xaraKpipa. 

8  pr\  SiaKpivwv — Eng.  Ver.  "  not  discerning."  In  the  first  Edition  of  the 
Communion  Service,  "  make  no  difference  of  the  Lord's  body," — from  a 
common  meal ;  a  very  excellent  interpretation.    See  Schleusner  in  verbo. 


WORTHY    RECEIVING.  16T 

voke  him  to  plague  them  with  divers  diseases,  and  sundry 
kinds  of  death."  '  The  consideration  of  these  awful  judg- 
ments once  inflicted  upon  an  impure  Church,  should  move 
us  betimes  to  "judge  ourselves,  that  we  be  not  judged  of 
the  Lord." z  Having  already  shewn  the  kind  of  prepara- 
tion required  for  a  "  worthy  "  reception  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, we  need  not  enlarge  upon  it  further.  The  true  penitent 
cannot  approach  unworthily.  He  who  feels  the  burden  of 
his  sins,  and  longs  to  be  freed,  not  only  from  their  guilt, 
but  from  their  power ;  who  loves  his  Saviour,  and  sincerely 
desires  to  love  him  more ; — let  him  know  that  his  sins  are 
forgiven  him;3  the  righteousness  of  Christ  is  imputed  unto 
him;4  he  is  accepted  in  the  beloved;"5  and  will  be  found, 
if  not  among  the  most  joyful,  yet  the  most  welcome  guests 
at  the  sacred  Table.  While  he  thus  endeavours  to  show 
his  thankfulness  to  God,6  and  his  grateful  remembrance  of 
his  Saviour's  dying  love;7  He  who  is  "the  author  and 
finisher  of  our  faith  " 8  will  meet  such  an  one  in  his  own 
ordinance,  admit  him  to  refreshing  communion  with  his 
Lord,9  and  strengthen  him  to  "  serve  him  in  true  holiness 
and  righteousness  all  the  days  of  his  life."  I0 

The  Minister  then  calls  upon  those  who  are  right  minded, 
to  "  Draw  near  with  faith,"  and  take  this  holy  Sacrament 
to  their  comfort."  And,  as  humiliation  before  God  must 
precede  exaltation,12  we  are  directed  to  join  in  the  most  self- 
abasing  confession  of  guilt,  "  meekly  kneeling  upon  our 
knees,"  uniting  the  lowliest  posture  of  the  body  with  the 
deepest  abasement  of  soul ;  for  an  irreverent  and  self-indul- 
gent attitude  in  Prayer  is  too  often  the  index  of  a  careless, 
if  not  profane  mind.13 

i   1  Cor.  xi.  30.  2  Verse  31. 

3  1  John  ii.  12.  4  Rom.  iv.  6—8.  *  Eph.  i.  6. 

6  Psalm  cxvi.  13,  17.  ^   1  Cor.  xi.  23—25.  «  Heb.  xii.  2. 

9  Rev  iii.  20.    Comp.  Isaiah  lxiv.  5. 
i  o  Luke  i.  75.    See  Appendix  G.  1 1  Heb.  x.  22. 

1 2  Prov.  xv.  33.    Luke  xiv.  11.     1  Peter  v.  6. 

1 3  Bishop  Hall  well  remarks,  in  his  terse  and  pithy  manner : — "  The 
careless  and  uncomely  carriage  of  the  body  helps  both  to  signify  and  make 
a  profane  soul." — Contemp.  B.  v.  4. 

15 


170  CONFESSION. 

The  language  of  the  Confession  is  most  solemn  and 
appropriate.  Every  word  is  emphatic.  "  Almighty  God — 
Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ' — Maker  of  all  things — 
Judge  of  all  men."2  The  prayerful  study  and  use  of  this 
excellent  form  will  enable  us  to  appreciate  its  value,  and 
enter  into  its  spirit,  better  than  any  lengthened  exposition. 
While  we  "  acknowledge  and  bewail  "  3  our  sins,  in  all  their 
aggravation,  as  "  manifold,"  various,  repeated  from  time  to 
time,  and  that  "  most  grievously  ;"  4  sins  of  "  thought,  word, 
and  deed,"5  not  only  against  man,  but  against  "  the  Divine 
Majesty,6  provoking  most  justly  his  wrath  and  indignation 
against  us  :"7  let  us  lay  our  hands,  by  faith,  upon  the  head 
of  the  Great  Sacrifice,  and  see  all  our  guilt  transferred  to 
him.8  This  will  deepen  our  contrition,  while  it  exalts  our 
confidence  :  for  godly  sorrow  can  never  be  separated  from 
believing  dependence.9  Thus  we  shall  "  earnestly  repent, 
and  be  heartily  sorry  for  these  our  misdoings ;  the  remem- 
brance of  our  sins,"  as  committed  against  so  much  good- 
ness and  mercy,  will  be  "grievous  unto  us,  the  burden  of 
them  (so)  intolerable,"  that,  without  the  view  of  the  Divine 
propitiation,  we  could  not  bear  the  thought  of  them.10 

In  this  spirit  how  earnestly  shall  we  plead  for  "  mercy," 
with  our  most  merciful  Father,  for  the  sake  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,"  " — and  not  only  for  "forgiveness  of  the  past," 
but  also  for  grace,  that  "  we  may  ever  hereafter  serve  and 
please  him  in  newness  of  life."  12  For  those  alone  can  be 
scripturally  assured  of  pardon,  who  are  striving  to  walk  in 
a  way  that  is  pleasing  to  God.13 

The  presiding  Minister  then  pronounces  the  Absolution, 

1  2  Cor.  i.  3.  2  Heb.  xii.  23.  3  psalm  xxxviii.  18. 

4  Dan.  ix.  5.    Jer.  xiv.  7.     Lam.  i.  8,  20. 

s   Psalm  xciv.  11;  cxix.  113.     Prov.  xxiv.  9.     Matt.  xii.  36,  37. 

6  Gen.  xxxix.  9.    Psalm  li.  4.    Job  xxxvii.  22.  ^  Deut.  ix.  7. 

8  Lev.  i.  4.    Isaiah  liii.  6.    2  Cor.  v.  21. 

9  Zech.  xii.  10.    2  Cor.  vii.  10. 

io  Job  xlii.  5,  6.    Psalm  xxxvm.  4.    Ezek.  xvi.  63;   xxxvi.  31.    Luke 

xxn.  61,  62.  1 1   Psalm  cxxiii.  3-     1  John  ii.  1.  2. 

.1 2  Rom.  vi.  4.  l»2  Cor.  v.  14—21. 


ABSOLUTION.  171 

an  authoritative  declaration,1  in  God's  name,  of  "  forgive- 
ness of  sins  to  all  them  that  with  hearty  repentance  and 
true  faith  turn  unto  him;"2  concluding  with  a  solemn 
Benediction,  conveying  the  seal  of  the  Spirit  to  those 
whose  souls  are  Divinely  prepared  to  receive  its  sacred 
impression.  How  full  and  comprehensive  of  blessings  is 
the  Prayer — "  Have  mercy  upon  you  ;  pardon  and  deliver 
you  from  all  your  sins  ; 3  confirm  and  strengthen  you  in  all 
goodness  ; 4  and  bring  you  to  everlasting  life  !"  5  While  we 
hear  it,  let  us  bow  down  our  hearts,  in  simple  faith,  before 
the  mercy-seat,  and  add  our  fervent  "Amen"  to  its  scrip- 
tural petitions ! 

In  confirmation  of  this  assurance  of  pardon,  the  Church 
invites  us  to  "  Hear  the  comfortable  words "  of  "  Our 
Saviour  Christ,"  and  his  Apostles,  Saint  Paul  and  Saint 
John  ; 6  passages  rich  in  promise,  and  overflowing  with  con- 
solatory encouragement ;  enough  to  strengthen  the  weakest 
faith,  and  restore  confidence  to  the  most  trembling  penitent. 

And  now — if  we  have  rightly  joined  thus  far  in  the 
solemn  service — if  we  have  truly  confessed  our  sins,  and 
received  God's  absolution ;  how  suitably  does  the  Priest,  at 
this  point,  call  upon  us  to  "  lift  up  our  hearts,"  above 
earthly  and  visible  things,  in  grateful  adoration,  to  the 
"  Throne  of  the  Majesty  on  high  :"7  to  which  we  answer — 
"  We  lift  them  up  unto  the  Lord  ;" 8  whose  children  we  are 
now  by  faith,  and  with  whom  we  hope  to  live  for  ever  in 
glory. 

i  In  the  first  "  Order  of  the  Communion"  the  Absolution  began  as 
follows  "Our  blessed  Lord,  who  hath  left  power  to  his  Church,  to 
absolve  penitent  sinners  from  their  sins,  and  to  restore  to  the  grace  of  the 
heavenly  Father  such  as  truly  believe  in  Christ,  have  mercy,"&c. 

2  Isaiah  lv.  7.    Actsxvi.  31.  3  Micah  vii.  18,  19. 

4  Eph.  iii.  16.  5  R0m.  vi.  22. 

G  Matt.  xi.  28.    John  iii.  16.     1  Tim.  i.  15.     1  John  ii.  1. 

7  Lam.  iii.  41.  This  part  of  the  service  is  very  ancient,  being  alluded 
to  by  Cyprian.  "Sacerdos  ante  orationem  parat  fratrum  mentes  dicendo 
sursum  corda ;  ut  dum  respondet  plebs:  Habemus  ad  Dominum,  ad- 
moneatur  nihil  aliud  se  quam  Dominum  cogitare  debere.  De  Oratione 
Dom.  8  Psalm  xxv.  1  ,•  xxvii.  8. 


172  LAUDS. 

Thus  when  the  Minister  invites  us  to  "  Give  thanks  unto 
our  Lord  God,"  well  may  we  reply — "  It  is  meet  and  right 
so  to  do."  Then  follows  a  sublime  thanksgiving,1  with 
proper  prefaces  for  solemn  days  and  seasons  ;2 — "  It  is  very 
meet,  right,  and  our  bounden  duty,"  &c,  concluding  with 
that  truly  seraphic  song — "  Therefore  with  Angels  and 
Archangels,"  &c.3  The  Church's  devotional  rapture  brings 
down  heaven  to  earth,  or  rather,  mounts  up,  in  a  divine 
transport,  to  heaven,  and  presents  us,  with  the  Angelic  wor- 
shippers, before  the  ineffable  glory. 

But  if  the  holy  Prophet,  when  admitted  to  the  beatific 
vision,  cried  out  "Woe  is  me,  for  I  am  unclean;"4  it  well 
becomes  us  to  temper  our  joyful  praises  with  profound  self- 
abasement  ;  even  as  those  heavenly  worshippers  hide  their 
faces  with  their  wings,  while  they  cry  "  Holy,  holy,  holy  ;"5 
and  others  "fall  down  before  him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne," 
and  "  cast  their  crowns  before  the  throne,"  while  they  utter 
that  magnificent  song — "  Thou  art  worthy,  0  Lord,  to  re- 
ceive glory,  and  honour,  and  power ;  for  thou  hast  created 
all  things,  and  for  thy  pleasure  they  are  and  were  created."8 

Most  suitably,  therefore,  do  we  here  join  with  the  Minister 
in  that  deeply  spiritual  address  to  God — "  We  do  not  pre- 
sume to  come  to  this  thy  Table,  O  merciful  Lord,  trusting 

1  The  evxapiaria,  or  Thanksgiving,  is  mentioned  by  Justin  Martyr — 
(Apol.  i.  85 — 87.)— with  a  special  allusion  to  the  sacred  Trinity — pro- 
bably the  very  words  of  the  Tersarutus  were  used ;  for  so  this  anthem 
was  anciently  called  ;  not  Trisagion,  as  Wheatley  calls  it,  which  Palmer 
distinguishes  from  it.  See  Isaiah  vi.  3.  From  the  importance  of  this 
part  of  the  service,  the  name  Eucharist  was  given  to  the  whole.  Some 
think  it  is  alluded  to  in  1  Cor.  xiv.  1(3. 

2  There  is  no  preface  appointed  for  Good-Friday,  probably  because  the 
Communion,  being  a  Feast,  was  not  thought  so  proper  for  such  a  solemn 
Fast. 

3  In  the  First  Prayer  Book,  the  chorus,  "Holy,  holy,  holy,''  &c,  is  ap- 
pointed to  be  sung  by  the  Clerks,  a  custom  still  prevalent :  the  preceding 
words — "  therefore  with  angels,"  &c.  are  also  often  repeated  by  the  con- 
gregation; but  without  authority.  In  King  F.dward's  Book,  after  the 
words  full  of  thy  glory" — was  added — "  Osanna  in  the  highest.  Blessed 
is  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  :  Glory  to  thee,  O  Lord,  in  the 
highest.  4  Isaiah  vi.  1 — 5. 

■s  Comp.  Isaiah  vi.  3,  4.  with  Rev.  iv  8.  e  Rev.  iv.  10,  11. 


ADDRESS    TO    GOD.  173 

in  our  own  righteousness," '  &c.  This  is  the  very  language 
of  Scripture,  and  the  genuine  spirit  of  true  Christianity ;  to 
disclaim  all  worthiness  of  our  own,  and  rely  only  upon  the 
merits  of  Christ,  and  his  perfect  righteousness."  "  We  are 
not  worthy  so  much  as  to  gather  up  the  crumbs  under  thy 
table."  How  exactly  does  such  language  harmonize  with 
the  feelings  of  the  humble  and  affectionate  disciple  of  Christ ! 
May  we  be  enabled  to  realize  it  more  and  more ! 

When  we  pray  that  we  may  "  so  eat  the  flesh  of  Christ, 
and  drink  his  blood,  that  our  sinful  bodies  may  be  made 
clean  by  his  body,  and  our  souls  washed  through  his  most 
precious  blood ;"  we  are  not  to  understand  that  the  flesh  and 
blood  of  Christ,  received  in  a  spiritual  manner  at  the  Lord's 
Supper,  have  any  separate  and  peculiar  operation,  the  one 
cleansing  the  body,  and  the  other  the  soul :  but  simply  we 
desire,  that,  as  the  flesh  of  Christ  was  pure  and  wholly  free 
from  sin,  so  our  corrupt  flesh  may  be  purified  by  union  with 
his  perfect  human  nature;3  and  as  the  soul  is  stained  with 
the  guilt  of  those  sins,  which  he  shed  his  blood  to  wash 
away ;  so  we  may  partake  of  the  benefits  of  that  blood- 
shedding,  and  have  our  souls  "  washed  and  made  white  in 
the  blood  of  the  Lamb."4 

We  come  now  to  the  Prayer  of  Consecration,  in  which  the 
Church  has  shown  her  wise  and  pious  care,  in  the  choice  of 
such  words  as  keep  close  to  the  Scriptural  statement,  and 
clear  of  the  Romish  errors  of  Transubstantiation  and  Sacri- 
fice, in  which  the  doctrine  of  the  Mass  had  become  so  deeply 
imbedded.  She,  therefore,  pointedly  alludes  to  the  "  one 
oblation  of  Christ  once  offered,"  whereby  he  made  on  the 
cross  "  a  full,  perfect,  and  sufficient  sacrifice,  oblation,  and 
satisfaction  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world."5  Thus  teach- 
ing us,  that  no  other  sacrifice  for  sin  is  either  required  or 
allowed  by  the  Church  of  Christ. 


1  Dan.  ix.  18. 

2  Gen.  xxxii.  10.     Matt.  xv.  26,  27.  3  John  vi  53—58.     Heb.  x.  10. 

4  Rev.  vii.  14.    Comp.  Heb  ix.  13,  14. 

5  Heb.  vii.  27;  ix.  25—28;  x.  10—14.  26.    See  Art.  xxxi. 

15* 


174  CONSECRATION. 

She  also  prays,  "  that  we  receiving  these  God's  creatures 
of  bread  and  wine,  in  remembrance  of  Christ's  death  and 
passion,  may  be  partakers  of  his  most  blessed  Body  and 
Blood." '  The  bread  and  wine  are  still  the  creatures  of  God, 
even  after  having  been  thus  solemnly  set  apart  as  "  outward 
visible  signs"  of  "  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,"  of  which 
we  are  thus  made  to  eat  and  drink  spiritually.2 

The  remainder  of  the  Prayer  is  taken  from  St.  Paul's 
account  of  the  Institution  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  with  slight 
variation.3  We  shall  only  remark  upon  it,  that,  when  our 
Blessed  Lord  said  to  his  disciples,  "  Take,  eat,  this  is  my 
body ;"  he  could  not  mean  that  he  had  his  real  body  in  his 
hand,  which  they  were  to  partake  of;  but  that  the  bread 
which  they  were  to  eat  was  a  representation  of  his  broken, 
or  crucified  body,  as  the  wine  was,  by  comparison,  of  his 
poured  out  blood:4  "giving  unto  the  signs  the  names 
which  are  proper  to  the  things  signified  by  them ;  as  we 
use  to  do  even  in  common  speech,  when  the  sign  is  a  lively 
representation  and  image  of  the  thing."5 

But  as  this  holy  Sacrament  was  ordained  by  Christ  not 

i  In  the  First  Prayer  Book,  the  Consecration  Prayer  was  of  a  more 
doubtful  character,  containing  the  following  words.  "Hear  us,  (O  mer- 
ciful Father)  we  beseech  thee;  and  with  thy  Holy  Spirit  and  word  vouch- 
safe to  bl+ess  and  sanc-t-tify  these  thy  gifts  and  creatures  of  bread  and 
wine,  that  they  may  be  unto  us  the  body  and  blood  of  thy  most  dearly  be- 
loved Son,"  &c.  The  objectionable  expressions  were  rejected  at  the  next 
Review,  though  Restored  in  the  Scotch  Liturgy.  It  is  cheering  to  con- 
template the  godly  simplicity  with  which  our  great  Reformers  submitted 
to  have  their  compositions  revised  and  corrected  by  their  foreign  brethren, 
P.  Martyr,  and  Bucer;  and  painful  to  contrast  their  growing  light,  and 
freedom  from  Popish  bondage,  with  the  eager  embrace  of  that  cast-off 
yoke  by  their  degenerate  successors.  See  Bucer's  Scrip.  Anglic,  pp. 
468—476.  2  1  Cor.  x.  16,  17.     See  Appendix  H. 

3  1  Cor.  xi.  23—55.    Comp.  Matt  xxvi  28.     Luke  xxii.  20. 

4  Compare  irarayycXXsrf.  1  Cor.  xi.  26.  with  f<<;  njv  t^r/v  avapvrioiv, 
v.  24,  to  illustrate  this  view. 

5  Archbishop  Sandys'  Sermon,  Parker  Soc.  Ed.  p.  304.  The  reference  is 
to  August,  ad  Boniface,  quoted  in  Horn.  xxi.  "If  sacraments  had  not," 
&c.  The  verb "  to  be,'''  expressed  or  understood,  in  Scripture  language 
often  signifies  to  represent.  Comp.  Gen.  xli.  26,  27.  Exod.  xii.  11.  Ezek. 
v.  5.  Heb.  John  x.  9;  xv.  1—5.  1  Cor.  x.  4;  xi.  25.  Gal.  iv.  24,  25, 
Gr, 


ADMINISTRATION.  175 

merely  as  an  empty  sign,  but  as  a  means  of  grace ;  the 
sacred  elements  become,  to  those  who  "  receive  them  rightly, 
worthily,  and  with  faith,  a  partaking  of  the  Body  and  Blood 
of  Christ ;"  \  in  other  words,  they  convey  to  us  the  benefits 
of  his  sacrifice,  and  unite  us  to  Him  more  fully,  vitally,  and 
sensibly,  by  the  exercise  and  confirmation  of  our  faith  in 
Him.2 

While  we  carefully  avoid  all  approach  to  Popish  errors, 
let  us  diligently  endeavour  to  raise  our  low  and  grovelling 
minds  to  a  high  and  reverential,  yet  simple  and  scriptural 
view  of  this  holy  Feast.  Thus  we  shall  not  only  reap  the 
full  benefit  of  the  ordinance,  but  also  be  armed  against  any 
wild  innovations  of  heretical  teachers,  who  have  too  often 
derived  a  plausible  advantage  for  intruding  their  supersti- 
tious notions,  from  the  lax  and  meagre  views  of  otherwise 
orthodox  and  evangelical  professors.3 

How  solemn  and  affecting  are  the  words  addressed  by  the 
Minister  to  each  communicant : — "  The  Body  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,"  &c.4  May  each  of  us  receive  in  his  heart 
this  inestimable  treasure,  "  make  a  close  application  of  the 
benefits  of  the  Saviour — be  united  and  incorporated  with 
him,  and  feel  a  strength  arising  from  this  salutary  union,"5 

1  Art,  xxviii.  so  the  Catechism  defines  this  Sacrament  to  be  "  a  means 
whereby  we  receive  the  grace  of  spiritual  strengthening  and  refreshing  by 
the  body  and  blood  of  Christ."  2  Art.  xxv.    See  Appendix  I. 

3  Error  works,  not  only  directly,  by  infection,  but  by  reaction,  in  an 
opposite  direction.  Thus  the  neglect  of  sacramental  instruction  in  a 
former  age,  has  led  to  a  superstitious  excess  in  the  present-  Let  us  beware 
of  extremes-  The  Scylla  must  be  avoided  as  well  as  the  Charybdis,  if  we 
would  not  make  shipwreck  of  our  faith, 

"  Medio  tutissimus  ibis" 

For  a  full,  and  accurate  exposition  of  this  truth  in  connection  with  our 
present  subject,  see  "  Sacramental  Instruction,"  by  the  Rev-  C.  Bridges,  pp. 
29 — 64-    See  also,  on  Low  views  of  this  sacrament,  Appendix  K. 

4  The  minister  is  directed  to  deliver  the  elements  first  to  the  clergy 
present,  in  order  that  (as  it  was  added  in  each  of  King  Edward's  Liturgies) 
"They  may  be  ready  to  help  the  chief  Miuis'er^  not  as  if  they  were 
a  higher  caste,  to  be  separated  from  the  other  communicants.  Respecting 
the  words  of  Administration,  see  Appendix  L. 

5  Spanheim's  "  Throne  of  Grace,"  c.  viii.  p.  104.    Camb.  1843. 


176  ADMINISTRATION. 

"  feeding  upon  him  in  our  hearts  by  faith  with  thanksgiving." 
The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  does  not,  like  the  false 
Church  of  Rome,  mutilate  the  Sacrament,  by  withholding 
the  cup  from  the  laity.  Remembering  her  Master's  words 
— "  Drink  ye  all  of  it,"  '  she  invites  each  of  her  children  to 
partake  of  it,  "  in  remembrance  that  Christ's  blood  was  shed 
for  them"  in  particular,  and  "  be  thankful.'''' 

Let  us,  at  that  solemn  moment,  commit  our  whole  selves, 
soul  and  body,  to  the  Saviour  who  died  for  us,  surrendering 
ourselves  into  his  gracious  hands,  nothing  doubting  that  he 
will  "  preserve  us  unto  everlasting  life." 2  Thus  we  shall 
realize  Communion  with  Christ,  who  is  "our  life,"3  peace 
and  liberty  of  spirit,  with  assurance  of  mutual  love,  that 
"  we  may  evermore  dwell  in  him,  and  he  in  us."  4 

When  all  have  communicated,  the  whole  congregation 
join  in  offering  up  the  Lord's  Prayer,  now  peculiarly  suita- 
ble to  express  the  feelings  of  those  who  are  assured  of  their 
reconciliation  to  God,  as  a  Father,  and  whose  hearts  are 
full  of  love  to  each  other,  as  brethren  of  one  family  in  Christ 
Jesus.5 

Then  follow  two  Prayers ;  the  first  of  which  implores  the 
Divine  acceptance  of  "  this  our  sacrifice  of  praise  and  thanks- 
giving,"6 through  the  merits  of  Christ,  notwithstanding  our 
conscious  un worthiness,7  that  we  may  none  of  us  depart 
from  the  holy  Table  without  the  blessing  of  "  remission  of 


l   Matt.  xxvi.  27.  2  John  vi.  51,  3  Col.  iii.  4. 

■4   Address  to  Communicants-    John  vi.  57,  58. 

s  Eph.  iii.  15.  Hooker  beautifully  observes  on  this  use  of  the  Lord's 
Prayer.  "  If  the  Church  did  ever  devise  a  thing  fit  and  convenient,  what 
more  than  this,  that  when  together  we  have  all  received  these  heavenly 
mysteries  wherein  Christ  imparted  himself  unto  us,  and  giveth  visible 
testification  of  our  blessed  communion  with  him,  we  should,  with  the 
pastor  as  a  leader,  the  people  as  willing  followers  of  him  step  by  step, 
declare  openly  ourselves  united  as  brethren  in  one,  by  offering  up  with  all 
our  hearts  and  tongues  that  most  effectual  supplication?  .  •  .  For  which 
cause  communicants  have  ever  used  it,  and  we  at  that  time  by  the  form 
of  our  very  utterance  do  show  that  we  use  it,  yea,  every  word  and  syllable 
of  it,  us  communicants." — Ecc.  Pol.  v.  36.  (3.) 

e  Heb.  xiii.  15.  Comp  Psalm  cxvi.  17.  [The  first  prayer  forms  a  part 
ol  the  consecratory  service  in  our  book]  7  2  Chron.  xxx.  18,  19 


POST    COMMUNION.  177 

sins,  and  all  other  benefits  of  his  passion." '  And  here  we 
renew  the  dedication  of  ourselves,  made  in  Baptism,  to  Him 
who  has  thus  owned  us  as  his  children.2  Thus  the  Com- 
munion  is  complete.  An  intercourse  is  opened  up  between 
the  Lord  and  his  people.  '  I  am  your  God1 — '  We  are  thy 
people.''     This  is  Communion  indeed!"3 

The  other,  in  a  more  elevated  spirit  of  joyful  assurance, 
returns  thanks  to  God  for  the  high  privileges  enjoyed  by 
those  "  who  have  duly  received  these  holy  mysteries,"  of 
real  participation  of  "  the  spiritual  food  of  the  most  precious 
Body  and  Blood  of  our  Saviour  Christ,"  incorporate  mem- 
bership of  his  mystical  body,4  and  prospective  heirship  of  his 
everlasting  kingdom.5  Such  is  the  confidence  which  the 
evangelical  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  would  inspire  into 
her  spiritual  children.  But  then  it  must  be  chastened  by 
humility  and  godly  fear.  Therefore  she  teaches  us  to  pray 
for  "  the  assistance  of  God's  grace,  that  we  may  continue  in 
that  holy  fellowship,  and  do  all  such  good  works  as  he  has 
prepared  for  us  to  walk  in."6 

And  now,  as  our  Blessed  Lord  concluded  his  Last  Supper 
with  a  Hymn,7  so  we  are  invited  to  join  in  that  Divine  An- 
them, the  beginning  of  which  was  sung  by  the  Angels  at 
our  Saviour's  Birth — "  Glory  be  to  God  on  high,"  &c.8 
What  devout  communicant  does  not  feel  it  a  relief  to  his 
overflowing  heart  thus  to  pour  out  his  soul  in  a  strain  of 
lofty  adoration,  combined  with  the  deepest  humility  ! 9 

The  presiding  Minister  pronounces  the  solemn  and  Scrip- 
tural Benediction — "  The  peace  of  God,"  &c.,10  and  the  sa- 
cred service  is  concluded."     We  linger  on  this   hallowed 

l  Eph.  i.  3,  7.  a  Rom.  xii.  I. 

3  Rev-  J;  Milner's  Sermon  on  the  Communion-Service.  See  Hosea  ii. 
23.     Respecting  the  original  order  of  the  service,  see  Appendix  M. 

4  1  Cor.  x.  16,  17.    Eph.  v-  30,  32-  5   Titus  iii.  7. 

6  Acts  ii.  42.    Eph.  ii.  10.  7  Matt.  xxvi.  30. 

8  Luke  ii.  14.    See  also  Rev-  v.  13;  vii.  11,  12;  xv.  3,  4. 

9  "This  Hymn  is  as  ancient,  in  substance,  as  the  fourth  century  at 
least.  It  were  better,  indeed,  that  we  sung  it." — Abp.  Seeker.  It  was 
used  in  Athanasius'  time  at  Morning  Prayer. — Palmer. 

1  o  Phil.  iv.  7,  compared  with  Numb.  vi.  23—27.        1 1  See  Appendix  N 


178  CONCLUSION. 

spot.  "  Surely,"  wo  exclaim,  with  the  patriarch  Jacob, 
"  the  Lord  is  in  this  place.  This  is  none  other  than  the 
house  of  God — this  is  the  gate  of  heaven  !"  ' 

But  let  us  ever  bear  in  mind,  that  Communion  with  God, 
if  real,  must  be  habitual ;  the  business  not  of  an  hour,  or  a 
day,  but  of  our  whole  lives.2  The  Christian  indeed  would 
carry  with  him  the  spirit  of  this  service  into  his  daily  walk. 
He  feeds  upon  an  unseen,  but  indwelling  Saviour.  His  life 
is  a  continual  Eucharistic  feast,  a  sacrifice  of  love  and  praise. 
In  the  language  of  St.  Paul,  the  believer  can  say,  "  I  am 
crucified  with  Christ :  nevertheless  I  live,  yet  not  I,  but 
Christ  liveth  in  me :  and  the  life  which  I  now  live  in  the 
flesh  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  me, 
and  gave  himself  for  me."3 

On  the  other  hand,  let  the  unconverted  and  worldly  com- 
municant remember  that  this  holy  Sacrament  is  a  solemn 
Covenant  between  God  and  his  soul,  and  awful  is  the  guilt 
of  profanely  trampling  upon  its  sacred  seals.  To  such  we 
may  apply  the  same  Apostle's  words — "  Ye  cannot  drink 
the  cup  of  the  Lord,  and  the  cup  of  devils ;  ye  cannot  be 
partakers  of  the  Lord's  table,  and  of  the  table  of  devils."4 
If,  therefore,  you  would  not  increase  your  guilt  and  con- 
demnation, repent  of  your  sins,  and  cordially  embrace  that 
salvation  whose  seal  you  have  had  so  graciously  offered  to 
you,  and  which  you  have  so  ungratefully  abused. 

i  Gen  xxviii.  16,  17. 

2  This  is  beautifully  summed  up  in  the  Exhortation  to  Communicants 
• — *  To  him  let  us  give  continual  thanks,  submitting  ourselves  wholly  to  his 
holy  will  and  pleasure,  and  studying  to  serve  him  in  true  holiness  and 
righteousness  all  the  days  of  our  Zi/e.'' 

i  Gal.  ii.  20.  *  1  Cor.  x.  21. 


APPENDIX. 


A.  [page  161.] 

Is  the  first  Prayer  Book  of  1549,  this  Exhortation,  with  its  ex- 
planatory Rubrics,  stood  as  follows.  First  came  the  Exhortation 
"to  them  that  be  minded  to  receive"  the  Sacrament.  Then  the 
Rubric  given,  p.  6.     Then  the  following : — 

IT  "And  if  upon  the  Sunday  or  holy  day,  the  people  be  negligent  to  come  to 
the  Communion  :  Then  shall  the  Priest  earnestly  exhort  his  parishioners  to  dis- 
pose themselves  to  the  receiving  of  the  holy  communion  more  diligently,  saying 
these  or  like  words  unto  them." 

This  exhortation  concluded  in  the  following  manner.  "  And  if 
there  be  any  of  you,  whose  conscience  is  troubled  and  grieved  in 
any  thing,  lacking  comfort  or  counsel,  let  him  come  to  me,  or  to 
some  other  discreet  and  learned  priest,  taught  in  the  law  of  God, 
and  confess  and  open  his  grief  secretly,  that  he  may  receive  such 
ghostly  counsel,  advice  and  comfort,  that  his  conscience  may  be 
relieved,  and  that  of  us  {as  of  the  ministers  of  God  and  of  the 
Church)  he  may  receive  comfort  and  absolution,  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  his  mind,  and  avoiding  of  all  scruple  and  doubtfulness  : 
requiring  such  as  shall  be  satisfied  with  a  general  confession,  not  to 
be  offended  with  them  that  do  use,  to  their  further  satisfying,  the 
auricular  and  secret  confession  to  the  priest ;  nor  those  also  which 
think  needful  and  convenient,  for  the  quietness  of  their  ovm  con- 
sciences, to  open  their  sins  to  the  priest,  to  be  offended  with  them  that 
are  satisfied  with  their  humble  confession  to  God,  and  the  general 
confession  of  the  Church.  But  in  all  things  to  folloiv  and  keep  the 
rule  of  charity,  and  every  man  to  be  satisfied  with  his  own  con- 
science, not  judging  other  men's  minds  or  consciences,  where  he  hath 
no  warrant  of  God's  word  to  the  same." 

This  paragraph  was  omitted  in  the  next  edition,  as  savouring 
too  much  of  Popery ;  and  is  valuable,  as  exhibiting  the  gradual  un- 
folding of  the  doctrines  of  our  Reformers,  as  their  minds  became 
more  and  more  opened  to  the  evils  of  Auricular  Confession,  and 
Priestly  Absolution. 

B.  [page  161.] 

In  the  First  Prayer  Book,  this  Exhortation  did  not  appear.  In 
the  second,  of  1552,  it  was  appointed  to  be  read  at  the  time  of  ad- 

179 


180  APPENDIX . 

ministration,  and  stood  first  of  the  three,  with  the  following  Rubri- 
cal direction,  after  the  Prayer  for  the  Church  militant. 

*'  Then  shall  follmr  the  Ei/wrtation  at  certain  times,  when  the  Curate  shall  see 
the  people  negligent  to  come  to  holy  communion. 

"  We  be  come  together,  at  this  time,  dearly  beloved  brethren,  to  feed 
at  the  Lord's  Supper,  unto  the  which,  &c." 

It  concluded  with  the  following  reproof,  now  omitted.  "  And 
whereas  ye  offend  God  so  sore  in  refusing  this  holy  banquet,  I  ad- 
monish, exhort,  and  beseech  you,  that  unto  this  unkindness  ye  will 
not  add  any  more.  Which  thing  ye  shall  do,  if  ye  stand  by  as  gazers 
and  lookers  on  them  that  do  communicate,  and  be  no  partakers  of  the 
same  yourselves.  For  what  thing  can  this  be  accounted  else,  than 
a  further  contempt  and  unkindness  unto  God.  Truly  it  is  a  great 
unthankfulness  to  say  nay  when  ye  be  called:  but  the  fault  is 
still  greater  when  men  stand  by,  and  yet  will  neither  eat  nor 
drink  this  holy  communion  with  other.  I  pray  you,  what  can  this 
be  else,  but  even  to  have  the  mysteries  of  Christ  in  derision  1  It 
is  said  unto  all :  Take  ye  and  eat.  Take  and  drink  ye  all  of 
this :  do  this  in  remembrance  of  me,  With  what  face  then,  or 
with  what  countenance  shall  ye  hear  these  words  ?  What  will 
this  be  else  but  a  neglecting,  a  despising,  and  mocking  of  the 
Testament  of  Christ?  Wherefore,  rather  than  ye  should  so  do, 
depart  you  hence,  and  give  place  to  them  that  be  godly  disposed. 
But  when  you  depart,  I  beseech  you,  ponder  with  yourselves  from 
whom  you  depart:  ye  depart  from  the  Lord's  table,  ye  depart 
from  your  brethren,  and  from  the  banquet  of  most  heavenly  food, 
&c.  For  the  obtaining  whereof,  we  shall  make  our  humble  peti- 
tions while  we  shall  receive  the  holy  Communion. 

Then  follows  the  present  First  Exhortation  with  this  Rubric : 
IT ''And  sometimes  shall  be  said  this  also,  at  the  discretion  of  the  Curate.'' 

"  Dearly  beloved,  forasmuch  as  our  duty  is  to  render  to 
Almighty  God  our  heavenly  Father  most  hearty  thanks,  for  that 
he  hath  given,  &c." 

And  so  they  continued  till  the  last  Review. 

C.     [page  163.] 

The  "  Order  of  the  Commuion"was  first  published  in  1548, 
before  any  of  the  other  services,  and  was  for  some  time  used  as 
a  separate  service;  though  Mr.  Blunt  is  of  opinion  that  the 
Litany  and  Communion  together  formed  the  Second  Service,  suc- 
ceeding to  the  High  Mass  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.1 

'  Sketch  of  the  Reformation,  by  Rev.  J.  J.  Blunt,  p.  215. 


APPENDIX.  181 

In  Archbishop  Grindal's  "Injunctions  for  the  Laity  at  York, 
1571,"  it  is  ordered  that  the  Minister  shall  not  "pause  or  stay- 
between  the  Morning  Prayer,  Litany,  and  Communion,  but  shall 
continue  and  say  the  Morning  Prayer,  Litany  and  Communion,  or 
the  service  appointed  to  be  said  when  there  is  no  Communion, 
together,  without  intermission,  to  the  intent  the  people  may  con- 
tinue together  in  prayer,  hearing  the  word  of  God,  and  not 
depart  out  of  Church  during  all  the  time  of  the  whole  divine 
service." — Remains,  Park.  Soc.  p.  137.  This  extract  shows  what 
had  been  the  previous  practice,  and  the  way  in  which  the  ser- 
vices became  united. 

D.     [page  166.] 

With  respect  to  the  frequency  of  the  offertory  collection,  no 
general  rule  can  be  laid  down.  The  feelings  and  circumstances 
of  the  Congregation,  and  the  other  channels  already  open  for 
their  benevolence,  should  be  duly  considered,  before  any  attempt 
is  made  to  revive  a  weekly  offertory ;  which,  however  unobjec- 
tionable in  itself,  has,  unhappily,  of  late,  given  rise  to  the  most 
lamentable  divisions.  The  Apostolic  precept,  "Upon  the  first 
day  of  the  week  let  every  one  of  you  lay  by  him  in  store,  as  God 
hath  prospered  him,"1  does  not  seem  to  be  of  universal  or  per- 
manent obligation  :  and  the  usage  of  the  Church  in  different 
ages,  has  varied  considerably.  In  Justin  Martyr's  time,  "  After 
the  Lord's  Supper  was  over  the  rich  relieved  the  poor,"~  (as  it 
appears)  "every  Lord's  Day."  But  in  Tertullian's  time,  about 
fifty  year's  later,  these  collections  were  made  monthly  "menstrua 
die."  Apol.  c.  89.)  A  Christian  people,  however,  will  do  well  to 
consider  whether  a  godly  Minister's  wishes,  in  such  a  case, 
should  not  form  a  rule  of  duty;  concession  being,  at  all  times, 
more  becoming  than  opposition,  especially  in  a  matter  not  only 
lawful  but  laudable.  The  mode  of  applying  the  offertory,  and 
the  extent  of  its  claims,  are  subjects  of  distinct  and  secondary 
consideration. 

That  the  offerings  made  at  the  Lord's  Table,  were  intended  to 
be  applied,  not  only  to  the  relief  of  the  poor,  but  for  the  support 
and  assistance  of  the  Clergy,  "in  their  work  and  labour  of  love;" 
may  be  collected  from  the  circumstance,  that  four  of  the  select, 
sentences  read  at  the  offertory,  have  distinct  reference  to  this  part 
of  our  duty. 

By  the  word  "oblations"  in  the  following  Prayer,  (added  in 

i  1  Cor.  xvi.  2.  2  Apol.  i.  85— Sa 

16 


182  -  APPENDIX. 

1661,)  we  are  to  understand,  not  merely  the  elements  of  bread 
and  wine,  (which,  however,  were  usually  taken  out  of  the  people's 
oblations,  in  primitive  times,)  but  all  the  voluntary  offerings 
which  were  accustomed  to  be  made  for  the  use  of  the  Church. 
See  Bingham's  Antiq.  B.  xv.  c.  ii.  1 — 5.  The  Scotch  Liturgy  men- 
tions the  "oblations"  in  the  " bason"  meaning  the  money  offered. 

E.     [page  166.] 

As  many  attempts  have  unhappily  been  made  of  late  to  revive 
among  us  Popish  or  semi-Popish  doctrines  respecting  the  Eucha- 
rist, and  great  stress  has  been  laid  on  the  words  "Priest"  and 
"altar"  with  reference  to  this  question;  it  may  be  well  to  observe 
that  the  English  word  "priest"  is  a  contraction  for  "presbyter," 
or  the  French  "  prestre,"  borrowed  from  the  Greek  rrpw/Jurcpof, 
which,  in  our  version,  is  translated  "elder."  (Acts  xiv.  23;  xv. 
2.)1  The  Church  of  England  acknowledges  no  such  thing  as  a 
sacrificial  priest,  and  has  studiously  excluded  the  word  "altar" 
from  the  Communion  service,  though  it  was  originally  found 
there,  2  and  was,  indeed,  the  common  word  in  use  before  the 
Reformation,  derived  from  authorities  of  the  highest  antiquity. 
The  early  use  of  this  word  by  the  ancient  Church,  did  not  appear 
to  our  Protestant  forefathers,  with  all  their  reverence  for  Ecclesi- 
astical usage,  to  justify  their  adoption  of  it,  after  the  very  general 
and  fatal  abuse  of  it  by  Popish  superstition.  In  order  to  keep 
clear  of  the  idea  of  sacrifice,  so  openly  taught  in  the  celebration 
of  the  Mass,  and  the  Romish  doctrine  of  Transubstantiation,  so 
closely  connected  with  it,  and  kept  alive  by  the  constant  use  of 
this  doubtful  word ; — they  agreed  to  reject  it  altogether  from  our 
reformed  ritual,  and  substitute  for  it  the  more  simple  and  scrip- 
tural word  "  table."  It  might  have  been  better  for  the  Church  of 
England,  if  her  great  divines  had  always  consistently  followed 
such  an  example.  But  the  word  "altar"  has  still  been  clung  to 
by  numbers  even  of  orthodox  Christians ;  and  at  the  present  day 
has  become  the  watchword  of  a  party,  and  a  point  of  great  im- 
portance in  the  eyes  of  many  :  which  makes  it  the  more  necessary 
that  true  Protestants  should  be  upon  their  guard  against  the  dan- 
gerous errors  too  often  lurking  under  the  disguise  of  this  ambigu- 
ous word. 

l  The  Greek  hpev;,  sacerdos,  is  never  given  to  a  minister  of  the  Gospel, 
either  in  the  New  Testament,  or  in  the  writings  of  earliest  Christian 
Fathers.— Dr.  Nichols.    See  Hooker,  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  78.  (3.) 

-  In  the  Edition  of  1519. 


APPENDIX.       *  183 

F.  [page  167.] 

In  the  First  Prayer  Book  of  1549,  the  limitation  contained  in 
the  clause  "  militant  here  on  earth  "  was  not  made  :  the  Prayer 
being  simply  "  for  the  whole  state  of  Christ's  Church."  Indeed 
the  latter  part  contained  petitions  for  the  departed,  which,  at  the 
suggestion  of  Bucer,  were  afterwards  omitted.1 

In  the  original  prayer,  after  giving  particular  thanks  for  "  the 
wonderful  grace  and  virtue,  declared  in  all  God's  saints,  from  the 
beginning  of  the  world.  And  chiefly  in  the  glorious  and  most 
blessed  Virgin  Mary,  mother  of  his  Son  Jesu  Christ,  our  Lord  and 
God,  and  in  the  holy  Patriarchs,  Prophets,  Apostles,  and  Martyrs, 
&c. :"  it  was  added — "  We  commend  unto  thy  mercy  (0  Lord)  all 
other  thy  servants  which  are  departed  hence  from  us,  with  the  sign 
of  faith,  and  now  do  rest  in  the  sleep  of  peace.  Grant  unto  them, 
we  beseech  thee,  thy  mercy,  and  everlasting  peace,  and  that,  at 
the  day  of  the  general  resurrection,  we,  and  all  they  which  be  of 
the  mystical  body  of  thy  Son,  may  altogether  be  set  on  his  right 
hand,  and  hear  that  his  most  joyful  voice:  Come  unto  me,  O  ye 
that  be  blessed,  &c." 

Surely  it  is  most  interesting  to  trace  the  dawn  of  Evangelical 
light  in  the  minds  of  our  great  Reformers,  "  shining  more  and 
more  unto  the  perfect  day."  One  by  one  the  clouds  of  supersti- 
tion disappeared  before  the  rising  beams  of  "the  sun  of  righteous- 
ness." It  is  now  plain  that  our  Church  here  enters  her  silent,  but 
emphatic  protest  against  the  Romish  doctrines  of  Purgatory,  and 
Prayer  for  the  Dead ;  having  rejected,  upon  more  mature  con- 
sideration, even  those  expressions  respecting  the  departed,  which 
the  example  of  Antiquity,  to  which  she  paid  a  respectful,  but  by 
no  means  unqualified  deference,  might  have  seemed  to  authorize. 
See  Bingham's  Antiq.  B.  xv.  c.  iii.  15.  The  words  "  We  also 
bless,"  &c,  were  added  at  the  last  Review,  1661. 

G.  [page  169.] 

In  the  first  Edition  of  the  "  Order  of  the  Communion,"  after  the 
Exhortation  to  "  them  that  be  minded  to  receive,"  is  the  following 
Rubric. 
'•Then  shall  the  Priest  say  to  them  which  be  ready  to  take  the  sacrament."' 
If  any  man  here  be  an  open  blasphemer,  an  advouterer  (adul- 
terer,) in  malice,  or  envy,  or  any  other  notable  crime,  and  be  not 
truly  sorry  therefor,  and  earnestly  minded  to  leave  the  same 
vices,  or  that  doth  not  trust  himself  to  be  reconciled  to  Almighty 

i  Bueeri  Scrip.  Anglic,  p.  467. 


184  APPENDIX. 

God,  and  in  charity  with  all  the  world,  let  him  yet  awhile  bewail 
his  sins,  and  not  come  to  this  holy  table,  lest  after  the  taking  of 
this  most  blessed  bread,  the  Devil  enter  in." 

This  passage  was  afterwards  inserted  in  the  Exhortation  itself, 
after  the  words  "sundry  kinds  of  death;"  and,  in  the  Second 
Edition,  to  the  Exhortation  before  the  Communion. 

Here  the  Priest  was  ordered  to  pause  "awhile, 

"  To  see  if  any  man  will  withdraw  himself;  and  if  he  perceive  any  to  do  so, 
then  (it  is  added)  let  him  commune  with  him  privily  at  convenient  leisure,  and 
see  whether  he  can  with  good  exhortation  bring;  him  to  grace  ;  and  after  a  little 
pause,  the  Priest  shall  say, 

"  You  that  do  truly,  &c." 

H.     [page  174.] 

Justin  Martyr,  speaking  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  says — "  We  do 
not  receive  them  as  common  bread  and  wine  (nopa  ;)  but  as  Jesus  our 
Saviour  being  made  flesh  by  the  Word  of  God,  had  both  Flesh 
and  Blood  for  our  salvation,  so  we  are  taught  that  the  food  which 
has  been  consecrated  ^vxap^duaav  rpotpnv)  by  the  prayer  (made)  in 
the  words  (received)  from  him,  by  which  (food)  our  flesh  and  blood 
by  change  (into  their  substance  are  nourished,  is  (spiritually)  the 
flesh  and  blood  of  the  incarnate  Jesus."     Apol.  i.  86. 

This  was  written  about  fifty  years  after  the  book  of  Revelation, 
and  seems  precisely  similar  to  the  statement  in  the  Church  Cate- 
chism : — "  The  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ,  which  are  verily  and 
indeed  taken  and  received  by  the  faithful  in  the  Lord's  Supper," — 
under  the  "  outward  and  visible  signs  "  of  "  Bread  and  wine." 

I.     [page  175.] 

"Thus  much  we  must  be  sure  to  hold,  that  in  the  Supper  of  the 
Lord  there  is  no  vain  ceremony,  no  bare  sign,  no  untrue  figure  of 
a  thing  absent;  but  as  the  Scripture  saith,  the  table  of  the  Lord, 
yea,  the  communion  of  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord,  in  a  marvel- 
lous incorporation,  which  by  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the 
very  bond  of  our  conjunction  with  Christ,  is  through  faith  wrought 
in  the  souls  of  the  faithful."  Horn,  xxvii.  I.  The  first  part  of 
this  Homily  well  deserves  the  readers,  not  only  perusal,  but 
ptayerful  study. 

Archbishop  Sandys  well  observes — "In  the  Eucharist,  our  cor- 
poral tasting  of  the  visible  elements  showeth  the  heavenly  nour- 
ishing of  our. souls  unto  life  by  the  mystical  participation  of  the 
glorious  body  and  blood  of  Christ.  For  inasmuch  as  he  saith  of 
one  of  these  sacred  elements,  "This  is  my  body" He 


APPENDIX.  185 

giveth  us  plainly  to  understand,  that  all  the  graces  which  may 
flow  from  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  Jesus,  are  in  a  mystery 
here  not  represented  only,  but  presented  unto  us."  Sermons,  Park. 
Soc.  Ed.  p.  308.  The  whole  discourse  will  repay  a  diligent  peru- 
sal. See  also  Apb.  Cranmer  on  the  Lord's  Supper.  Park.  Soc. 
Ed.  pp.  136,  148,  161,  &c. 

K.     [page  175.] 

The  following  is  the  testimony  of  a  man  who  will  not  readily 
be  suspected  of  leaning  towards  superstition.  The  pious  histo- 
rian of  the  Church  of  Christ,  (a  Divine  to  whose  worth  justice 
has  not  perhaps  been  done  by  the  present  age,)  thus  states  his 
convictions  of  the  prevalent  error  of  religious  persons  in  his 
days.  "  Mankind  are  ever  prone  to  extremes.  Because  they 
have,  through  the  mercy  of  God,  been  cured  of  the  self-righteous 
dependence  they  used  to  place  on  the  Sacrament,  they  are  apt  to 
have  too  slight  thoughts  of  its  utility.  Well  disposed  persons, 
who  often  gain  both  spiritual  comfort  and  strength  through  the 
means  of  sermons,  gain  nothing  from  the  Sacrament.  Why  is 
this?  You  are  in  too  lazy  a  posture  of  soul:  you  do  not  reve- 
rently esteem,  as  you  should,  this  precious  mean  of  grace,  as  the 
channel  in  which  the  comforts  of  your  salvation  may  be  expected 
richly  to  flow.  The  Reformers  speak  differently  of  the  import- 
ance of  this  institution."  Rev.  J.  Milner's  Sermon  on  the  Commu- 
nion Service,  p.  130. 

L.     [page  175.] 

In  the  First  Prayer  Book,  the  Bread  for  the  Lord's  Table  was 
ordered  to  be  "  unleavened,  and  round,  as  it  was  afore,  but  with- 
out all  manner  of  print,  and  something  more  larger  and  thicker 
than  it  was,  so  that  it  may  aptly  be  divided  in  divers  pieces :  and 
every  one  shall  be  divided  in  two  pieces,  at  the  least,  and  so  dis- 
tributed. And  men  must  not  think  less  to  be  received  in  part 
than  in  the  whole,  but  each  of  them  the  whole  body  of  our  Saviour 
Jesu  Christ."     King  Edward's  Liturgies.    Parker's  Soc.  Ed.  p.  97. 

The  wine  also  was  ordered  to  have  "  a  little  pure  and  clean 
water"  put  into  it.     (p.  85.) 

The  form  of  administration  was  as  follows. 

U  "  When  the  Priest  delivereth  the  sacrament  of  the  body  of  Christ  he  shall 
say  to  every  one  these  words  : 

The  body  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  which  was  given  for  thee, 
preserve  thy  body  and  soul  unto  everlasting  life. 
16  * 


lob  APPENDIX. 

"And  the  minister  delivering  the  sacrament  of  the  blood,  and  giving  every 
one  to  drink  once  and  no  more,  shall  say, 

The  blood  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  was  shed  for  thee, 
preserve  thy  body  and  soul  unto  everlasting  life. 

•■  If  there  be  a  Deacon,  or  other  Priest,  then  shall  he  follow  with  the  Chalice; 
and  as  the  Priest  ministereth  the  sacrament  of  the  body,  so  shall  he  (for  mere 
expedition)  minister  the  sacrament  of  the  blood,  in  the  form  above  written. 

In  the  Communion  time  the  Clerks  shall  sing, — "  ii.  O  Lamb 
of  God,  that  takest  away  the  sins  of  the  world,  have  mercy 
upon  us. 

O  Lamb  of  God,  that  takest  away  the  sins  of  the  world,  grant 
us  thy  peace." 

"  Beginning  so  soon  as  the  Priest  doth  receive  the  holy  communion." — (p.  92.) 

In  King  Edward's  second  Book,  no  directions  are  given  respect- 
ing "  setting  the  bread  and  wine  upon  the  Altar,"  (p.  85.)  putting 
the  former  on  a  "  Corporas,"  or  mixing  the  latter  with  water. 
The  bread  was  ordered  "  to  be  such  as  is  usual  to  be  eaten  with 
other  meats,  but  the  best  and  purest  wheat  bread,  that  conveni- 
ently may  be  gotten."  The  word  "altar"  is  changed  to  "God's 
board,"  and  the  form  of  Administration  was  simply  this  : 

H  "  When  he  (the  minister)  delivereth  the  bread,  he  shall  say 

Take  and  eat  this,  in  remembrance  that  Christ  died  for  thee, 
and  feed  on  him  in  thy  heart  by  faith,  with  thanksgiving. 

IT  "  And  the  minister  that  delivereth  the  cup,  shall  say, 

Drink  this  in  remembrance  that  Christ's  blood  was  shed  for 
thee,  and  be  thankful." 

In  Queen  Elizabeth's  Prayer  Book,  the  two  forms  were  com- 
bined, as  we  now  have  them. 

M.     [page  177.] 

In  the  First  Prayer  Book,  this  former  Prayer,  much  longer  than 
at  present,  came  immediately  after  the  Prayer  of  Consecration. 
It  was  followed  by  the  Lord's  Prayer. 

"  Let  us  pray. 
As  our  Saviour  hath  commanded  and  taught  us,  we  are  bold  to 
say,  Our  Father  &c. 

Then  shall  the  Priest  say, 
The  peace  of  the  Lord  be  ahvay  with  you. 
The  Clerks.   And  with  thy  spirit. 

The  Priest.  Christ  our  paschal  Lamb,  is  offered  up  for  us,  once 
for  all,  when  he  bare  our  sins  on  his  body  upon  the  cross  ;  for  he 


APPENDIX.  187 

is  the  very  Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world; 
wherefore  let  us  keep  joyful  and  holy  feast  with  the  Lord." 

Then  followed  the  Address — "You  that  do  truly,  &c." 
After  the  administration  is  the  following  Rubric  : — 
"  When  the  Communion  is  ended,  then  shall  the  Clerks  sing 
the  post-Communion"  i.  e.  the  following  "sentences  of  holy  scrip- 
ture, to  be  said  or  sung  every  day  one." 
Matt.  xvi.  24,  trn.  "  forsake  "  for  "  deny." 
Mark  xiii.  13. 
Luke  i.  68,  74,  75. 

xii.  37,  40,  47. 
John  iv.  23. 

v.  15. 

viii.  31,  32. 

xii.  36. 

xiv.  21,  23. 

xv.  7,  8,  12. 
Rom.  viii.  31,  32,  trn.  "  If  God  be  on  our  side?' 
33,  trn.  "  God's  chosen" 

xiii.  12. 
1  Cor.  i.  30,  31,  trn.  "He  which  rejoiceth." 

iii.  16,  17. 

vi,  20,  trn.  "  Ye  are  dearly  bought"  and  "  for  they  belong 
to  God." 
Eph.  v.  1,  2. 

N.     [page  177.] 

The  Communion  service  is  followed  by  several  Collects,  to  be 
used  [after  the  Collects  of  Morning  or  Evening  Prayers,  or  Com- 
munion,] at  the  discretion  of  the  Minister. 

In  the  Rubrics,  which  are  placed  after  this  office,  by  the  Church 
of  England,  she  forbids  the  practice  of  solitary  masses,  in  which 
the  Romish  Priests  receive  the  Sacrament  by  themselves,  quite 
destroying  the  nature  and  ends  of  Communion,  and  turning  it 
into  a  sacrifice. 

Directions  are  likewise  given  respecting  the  bread  and  wine, 
important  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  as  tending  to  promote  a 
purer  and  more  simple  feeling  with  regard  to  the  Lord's  Supper, 
in  opposition  to  the  gross  superstitions  which  then  every  where 
prevailed.  The  difference  between  consecrated  and  unconsecrated 
elements  was  made  at  the  last  Review. 


188  APPENDIX. 

The  whole  is  conclnded  by  a  protest  on  the  subject  of  kneeling 
at  the  Lord's  table,  a  valuable  testimony  against  the  Popish  doc- 
trine of  the  Corporal  Presence  of  Christ  in  the  Eucharist.  Surely, 
when  we  consider  the  entire  freedom  from  superstition  here 
manifest,  Christians  should  lay  aside  all  scruple  respecting  a  ges- 
ture so  becoming  the  humble  worshipper  during  so  solemn  a 
transaction. 

Hooker  well  remarks — "  Our  kneeling  at  Communion  is  the 
gesture  of  piety.  If  we  did  there  present  ourselves  but  to  make 
some  show  or  dumb  resemblance  of  a  spiritual  feast,  it  may  be 
that  sitting  were  the  fitter  ceremony  :  but  coming  as  receivers  of 
inestimable  grace  at  the  hands  of  God,  what  doth  better  beseem 
our  bodies  at  that  hour,  than  to  be  sensible  witnesses  of  minds 
unfeignedly  humble  1  Our  Lord  himself  did  that  which  custom 
and  long  usage  had  made  fit :  we  that,  which  fitness  and  great 
decency  hath  made  usual."     Ecc.  Pol.  v.  68.  (3.) 

Wheatly  adds,  that,  "  The  posture  of  sitting  was  first  brought 
into  the  Church  by  the  Arians  ;  who  stubbornly  denying  the 
divinity  of  our  Saviour,  thought  it  no  robbery  to  be  equal  with 
him,  and  to  sit  down  with  him  at  his  table.  And  it  is  the  Pope's 
opinion  of  his  being  St.  Peter's  successor  and  vicegerent,  which 
prompts  him  to  use  such  familiarity  with  his  Lord." 

However  this  may  be,  we  do  well  not  to  follow  such  examples  ; 
though  we  must  carefully  abstain  from  all  uncharitable  jndgment 
of  the  conduct  of  those,  who  "  holding  the  Head,"  as  we  do,  differ 
from  us  in  a  matter- of  form,  not  unimportant  indeed,  yet  not 
decided  by  any  positive  authority  either  of  Scripture,  or  of  the 
most  primitive  antiquity. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

BAPTISM. 

The  Holy  Ordinance  of  Baptism — the  sacramental  begin- 
ning of  our  Christian  life' — might"  have  been  expected  to 
take  the  precedence  of  the  other  Sacrament  in  our  exposition 
of  its  services.  But,  without  regarding  such  nice  distinc- 
tions, we  have  been  satisfied  to  follow  the  order  of  our 
Church ;  an  order,  no  doubt,  wisely  regulated  by  a  regard 
to  the  convenience  of  the  congregation,  by  whom  the  former 
service  was  necessarily  in  more  frequent  use. 

Baptism,  as  the  initiatory  rite  of  Christianity,  was  insti- 
tuted by  our  Blessed  Lord  in  that  memorable  charge  to  his 
Apostles,  just  before  His  ascension,  which  may  be  regarded 
as  the  Charter  of  the  Church  : — "  Go  ye  and  teach  (marg. 
make  disciples  of)  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  (into)  the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost."  2 

The  use  of  water  in  admitting  Proselytes  from  heathen- 
ism was  common  among  the  Jews  from  an  early  period,  as 
an  emblem  of  purification  from  sin;3  and  it  fitly  represented 

1  We  do  not  approve  of  the  language  of  the  great  Hooker  respecting 
this  sacrament,  when  he  calls  it  "  The  door  of  our  actual  entrance  into 
God's  house,  the  first  apparent  beginning  of  life,  a  seal  perhaps  to  the 
grace  of  election  before  received  ;  but  to  our  sanctification  here,  a  step 
that  hath  not  any  before  it ;"  Eccles.  Pol.  v.  60.  (3.)  Perhaps,  however, 
he  only  spoke  sacramentalhj,  and  with  reference  to  those  who  had  been 
baptized  in  their  Infancy. 

2  Matt,  xxviii.  19.  jiad/irtmaTt — "  make  disciples  of"  which  plainly 
differs  from  (JkWkojtcj-,  "  teaching,"  (in  v.  20.)  though  it  may  imply  the  idea 
of  teaching  when  the  subjects  are  capable  of  it. 

3  Dr.  J.  Owen  (Theologoumena,  Lib.  v.  Digress,  iv.  19 — 22)  questions 
the  use  of  baptism  among  the  Jews,  as  an  initiatory  rite,  prior  to  John  the 
Baptist.     "  Adhuc  sub  judice  lis  est." 

(189) 


190  John's  baptism. 

the  laying  aside  of  their  former  polluted  course  of  life,  and 
becoming,  in  a  manner,  "  new  creatures." '  In  this  point 
of  view,  it  was  sometimes  called  figuratively  "  a  new 
Birth."2 

Thus  our  Lord,  in  his  remarkable  discourse  with  Nico- 
demus,  the  Jewish  ruler,  alluded  to  this  rite  under  the  terms 
'■'■born  of  water;"  a  phrase  which,  though  misunderstood  by 
the  carnal-minded  Israelite,  plainly  conveyed  the  idea  of 
making  a  disciple  by  means  of  Baptism? 

John,  indeed,  was  the  first  of  whom  we  read  in  Scripture, 
who  used  this  rite  in  a  symbolical  manner.  From  his  fre- 
quent use  of  it,  he  was  called  "  the  Baptist  ;"4  and  he  thus, 
by  a  "  visible  sign  of  an  invisible  grace,"  taught  the  need 
of  that  "  Repentance"  which  he  was  specially  commissioned 
to  preach,  as  the  forerunner  of  our  Lord ;  whose  peculiar 
province  it  was  to  bestow  the  "  Remission  of  sins,"  of  which 
Baptism  was  an  especial  emblem  and  pledge.5 

The  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  means  of  his  Disciples  we  are 
told,  baptised  Jewish  Converts.6  But  we  have  no  account  of 
the  regular  institution  of  this  ordinance  previous  to  the  Com- 
mission to  the  Eleven,  before  alluded  to.7  At  this  time  it 
was,  that  Baptism  took   the  place  of  Circumcision,  which 

1  2  Cor.  v.  17.  Compare  Psalm  li.  7,  10.  Isaiah  i.  16.  Ezek.  xxxvi 
25,  26. 

2  So  Targum  on  Eccles.  vii.  7.  "  When  a  man  is  a  proselyte,  he  is  re- 
puted as  an  infant  new-born" — See  Whitby,  Comment  on  John  iii.  12. 
Home's  Introduction,  vol.  iii.  part.  iii.  ch.  ii.  section  ix.  3. 

3  John  iii.  5.  On  this  passage  Hooker  judiciously  observes  i  "  I  hold  it 
for  a  most  infallible  rule  in  expositions  of  Sacred  Scripture,  that  where  a 
literal  construction  will  stand,  the  furthest  from  the  letter  is  commonly  the 
worst;''  and  further  adds,  "Of  all  the  ancients  there  is  not  one  to  be 
named  that  ever  did  otherwise  either  expound  or  allege  the  place,  than  as 
implying  external  baptism." — Eccles.  Pol.  B.  v.  59-  (2.)  (3.)     Keble's  Ed. 

4  Matt.  iii.  1. 

5  Mark  i.  4.  "  for  (marg.  unto)  the  remission  of  sins.''  that  was 
to  come  after.  Comp.  Matt.  iii.  11.  Melancthon  thus  distinguishes 
"between  the  baptism  of  John  and  Christ's  baptism;  that  in  the  former  the 
remission  of  sins  was  not  expressed,  which  is  expressed  by  the  latter." 
See  "  Annotations"  in  John  i.  and  Matt.  iii. 

6  John  iii.  22,  26;  iv.  1,2. 

7  Matt,  xxviii.  16—20.     Mark  xvi.  14—16. 


NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  191 

was  the  sign  of  admission  into  the  Abrahamic  Covenant,  and 
a  pledge  of  interest  in  its  privileges  ;  which  Covenant,  for- 
merly confined  to  the  Jews,  was  now  to  be  offered  "  to  all 
nations."  Baptism,  as  it  existed  before,  was  but  an  auxili- 
ary to  Circumcision,  now  it  was  substituted  in  its  stead  :  the 
latter  being  wholly  done  away  as  a  part  of  the  obsolete  dis- 
pensation.1 

But  since  true  Christianity  is  not  a  mere  name,  or  empty 
distinction,  but  consists  in  an  inward  change  of  heart,  which 
is  called  in  Scripture  Regeneration,  or  a  new  birth;2  it  fol- 
lows that  Baptism  itself  (as  our  Church  declares),  "  Is  not 
only  a  sign  of  profession,  and  mark  of  difference,  whereby 
Christian  men  are  discerned  from  others  that  be  not  chris- 
tened ;  but  it  is  also  a  sign  of  regeneration,  or  new  birth, 
whereby,  as  by  an  instrument,  they  that  receive  Baptism 
rightly,  are  grafted  into  the  Church ;  the  promises  of  for- 
giveness of  sin,  and  of  our  adoption  to  be  the  sons  of  God 
by  the  Holy  Ghost  are  visibly  signed  and  sealed ;  faith  is 
confirmed,  and  grace  increased  by  virtue  of  prayer  unto 
God."3 

The  outward  form  of  Baptism  consists  in  the  use  of  water, 
applied  to  the  person  to  be  baptized,  in  the  way  of  sprinkling 
or  dipping,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 


1  Gen.  xvii.  7—14.    Col.  ii.  11, 12.    Heb.  viii.  13;  ix.  9,  10;  x.  9,  &c. 

2  John  iii.  3-    Titus  iii.  5. 

3  Article  xxvii.  It  may  be  useful  to  recapitulate  the  principal  ends 
and  effects  of  Baptism,  when  rightly  received,  as  enumerated  in  this 
Article: 

1  It  is  a  sign  of  our  Christian  profession- 

2.  A  sign  of  Regeneration,  i.  e.  "a  death  unto  sin,  and  a  new  birth  unto 
righteousness." — Catechism. 

3.  An  engrafting  into  Christ  by  union  with  his  mystical  body,  the 
invisible  and  spiritual  Church  of  true  believers- — Rom.  vi.  5-  1  Cor 
xii.  13. 

4.  A  sign  and  seal  of  forgiveness  of  sins. — Acts  ii.  38;  xxii.  16. 

5.  A  sign  and  seal  of  our  adoption  into  God's  family,  by  the  Holy 
Ghost.— Gal.  iii.  26,  27 ;  iv.  6. 

6-  A  confirmation  of  faith,  thus  visibly  sealed. — Rom  iv.  11. 

7-  A  means  of  grace,  and  of  receiving  the  gift  of  God,  in  an  increased 
degree,  through  prayer.— Acts  ii.  38;  xxii.  16. 


192  INFANT    BAPTISM. 

Ghost.1  This  is  the  essential  part  of  the  institution.  But  as 
some  additional  solemnities  are  suitable  for  so  important  an 
occasion,  our  Church  has  devised  an  impressive  and  scrip- 
tural service,  which  we  shall  do  well  to  study,  as  the  best 
preparation  for  a  due  improvement  of  this  holy  Ordinance. 

INFANT    BAPTISJI. 

When  a  Heathen  parent  was  admitted,  along  with  his 
children,  into  the  pale  of  the  ancient  Church  ;  the  Jewish 
writers  inform  us  that  the  rite  of  Baptism  was  administered 
to  all  the  members  of  his  household  ;  the  males  being  both 
circumcised  and  baptized,  the  females  baptized  only.2  We 
have  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  same  practice,  as  re- 
gards Baptism,  was  adopted  by  the  Apostles;  but  the  Scrip- 
tures are  not  express  on  this  point,  the  Baptism  of  adults 
being  the  more  direct  object  of  the  first  preachers  of  the 
gospel,  as,  we  see,  is  still  the  case  with  Missionaries  to  the 
Heathen.  We  have,  however,  several  indirect  allusions  to 
the  admission  of  children  into  the  Church  of  Christ ;  as  when 
we  read  of  the  "  households"  of  Lydia,  and  the  Jailor  of 
Philippi  being  baptized ;  which,  in  all  probability,  contained 
some  of  these  "  little  ones"  of  Christ's  flock.3  Indeed,  when 
we  consider  the  close  connexion,  in  spiritual  things,  between 
the  Old  and  New  Testament  dispensations  ;  how  one  Cove- 
nant-promise, one  rule,  one  spirit,  one  faith,  one  hope  of  life 
everlasting  are  common  to  both  :4  when  we  observe  how  cir- 

l  See  Appendix  A.  2  See  the  authorities  in  Wheatley. 

3  Acts  xvi.  15,  33.    Compare  1  Cor.  i.  16. 

4  The  parallelism,  if  not  actual  identity,  of  the  two  covenants  will  appear 
in  a  very  striking  light  from  the  following  comparison : — 

One  covenant  promise,  Gen.  iii.  15;  xii.  3;  xxii.  18.  Comp.  Rom.  iv.  9, 
16.    Gal.  iii.  14.    Also  Gen.  xvii.  7,  8.     Exod.  xxix.  45,  with  2  Cor.  vi.  16. 

One  rule  of  obedience,  Deut.  vi.  5;  x.  12,  and  Lev.  xix.  18.  Comp.  Matt, 
xxii.  37—39.    Rom.  xiii,  9.    Gal.  v.  14,  &c. 

One  spirit  of  obedience,  Deut.  x.  16.  Ezek.  xviii.  31.  Rom.  ii.  29,  Gal. 
vi-  15,  and  the  spiritual  assistance  promised  to  enable  for  its  fulfilment, 
Ezek.  xxxvi.  26,  27.    Comp.  Phil.  ii.  12,  13;  iii.  3. 

One  faith,  John  i.  45 ;  v.  39.    Heb.  xi.     1  Peter  i.  10,  1 1. 

One  hope  of  everlasting  life,  Acts  xxvi.  6,  7.  Comp.  Titus  i.  2.  See 
A.ppendix  B. 


GROUND  OF  INFANT  BArTISM.  193 

cumcision  in  the  former  was  succeeded  by  baptism  in  the 
latter,  both  being  of  similar  significancy,  importing  an  in- 
ward holiness,  and  assuring  the  faithful  recipient  of  an  eter- 
nal blessing : '  have  we  any  reason  to  doubt  that  as  children 
were  subjects  of  the  former  rite,  they  may  be  also  of  the 
latter  1  When  in  the  one  case  God  said  to  Abraham — "  I 
will  be  a  God  to  thee  and  to  thy  seed  after  thee;2  is  there 
not  a  strong  presumption,  at  least,  in  favour  of  the  opinion 
which  the  Church  of  Christ,  for  fifteen  hundred  years,  unani- 
mously approved,  and  still  sanctions  by  a  very  large  ma- 
jority of  her  purest  and  most  enlightened  members,  that 
children  of  Christian  parents  are  proper  subjects  of  Bap- 
tism ?3 

If  any  alteration  was  intended  as  regards  the  children's 
interest  in  the  Covenant  and  its  appointed  seal,  it  is  strange 
that  no  intimation  of  it  is  given.  Had  Jewish  parents  any 
cause  to  expect,  or  were  they  likely  to  acquiesce  in  such  an 
alteration,  without  one  word  being  said  on  the  subject  ? 
Was  this,  at  least,  the  lesson  to  be  readily  learned  from  our 
Blessed  Lord's  tender  regard  to  children,  His  "  taking  them 
in  his  arms,  putting  his  hands  upon  them,  and  blessing 
them."4  Such,  at  any  rate,  is  not  the  lesson  which  natural 
affection,  sanctified  by  Divine  grace,  teaches  the  Christian 
parent,  when,  in  obedience  to  the  invitations  of  Christ  and 
his  Church,  he  brings  his  offspring  to  the  font.  He  feels  it 
to  be  an  exercise  of  his  right  and  privilege  as  a  Father, 
thus  to  dedicate  his  child  to  God.  He  considers  that  Chris- 
tianity is  a  family  interest,  the  best  portion  of  his  children  ;5 
and  that  while  he  thus  binds  them  to  its  duties,  he  puts  in  a 
claim  for  its  blessings  on  their  souls.6    He  looks  upon  them 

i  Rom.  ii.  29.  Col.  ii.  11,  12.  Rom.  iv.  11,  12.  Calvin  remarks  in  his 
Institutes;  "Circumcision  was  a  sign  of  repentance,  and  a  seal  of  faith; 
and  yet  infants  were  circumcised."  The  inference  is  that  they  may  also  be 
baptized.  2  Gen.  xvii.  7.  compared  with  Heb.  viii.  10. 

3  On  the  prevalence  of  Infant  Baptism  in  the  Ancient  Church,  see 
Appendix  C. 

4  Mark  x.  13—16.    See  also  John  xxi.  15,  with  Doddridge  in  loco. 

5  Acts  xi.  14 ;  xvi.  15,  31—34. 

s  "  Parents,  and  those  who  are  appointed  by  parents,  have  certainly  a 
17 


194  OBJECTION    ANSWERED. 

as  relatively  "  holy,"  ' — the  children  of  the  Church  and  of 
God,  and  he  waits  for  the  promised  manifestation  of  the 
Spirit's  outpouring  in  due  season.2  If  it  be  objected  to  this 
view,  that  he  may  be  deceived,  for  the  children  of  heaven 
are  "  born  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of 
God  ;" 3  he  can  reply,  that  such  also  was  the  case  under 
the  old  Covenant,  of  which,  notwithstanding  this  apparent 
incongruity,  Ishmael  and  Esau  received  the  sign,  as  well  as 
Isaac  and  Jacob.4  In  short,  that  "  duty  is  ours,  events  are 
God's."  Nor  does  he  esteem  it  a  small  benefit  to  put  his 
child's  name,  as  it  were,  in  the  Gospel  charter,  as  an 
engagement  to  sue  out  his  interest  therein  when  able  to  do 
so.5  Instead  of  letting  his  best  days  run  to  waste  in  sin  and 
vanity,  he  seeks  to  present  him  to  the  Lord  while  fresh  with 
the  "dew  of  youth,"6  and  glittering  in  the  morning-beam  ; 
esteeming  it  among  the  greatest  of  God's  mercies  to  him- 
self,  that  "  by  making  us  his  own  possession  so  soon,  many 
advantages  which  Satan  otherwise  might  take  are  prevented, 
and  the  first  thing  whereof  we  have  occasion  to  take  notice 
is,  how  much  hath  been  done  already  to  our  great  good, 
though  altogether  without  our  knowledge" 7 

But  to  return  to  the  Prayer  Book.  The  Rubrics  prefixed 
to  the  service  for  Infant  Baptism  claim  a  passing  notice. 
The  first  requires  that  Baptism  be  administered  in  as  public 

right  to  bind  and  engage  children  in  this  baptismal  covenant.  It  is  but  a 
natural  right  which  they  have  over  them,  to  bind  them  to  the  terms  of  any 
covenant  and  agreement ;  especially  such  as  shall  be  for  their  benefit  and 
advantage,  Deut.  xxix.  10 — 12."    Bp.  Hopkin's  Works,  ii.  412. 

1  1  Cor.  vii.  14.    Comp.  Jer.  xxx\.  1. 

2  Acts  ii.  39,  with  Calvin  in  loc.  Also  Deut.  xxx.  6.  Isaiah  xllx.  3; 
Ixv.  23.    Jer  xxxii.  39.    Joel  ii.  28.  3  John  l.  13. 

*  See  Rom.  ix.  6—16. 

5  "  As  it  would  be  absurd  to  say,  that  a  child's  name  ought  not  to  be 
put  into  any  legacy  or  deed,  till  he  come  of  age  to  understand  it ;  so  alike 
absurd  and  far  more  injurious  is  it,  to  leave  out  our  children  from  this 
heavenly  legacy,  that  Christ  hath  left  to  his  Church.  .  .  .  which  may  be 
of  infinite  use  to  them  afterwards,  and  they  may  strongly  plead  it  with  God 
with  good  success."    Bp.  Hopkins,  v.  ii.  408.  6  Psalm  ex.  3. 

7  Hooker,  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  64.  Expressing  not  only  the  opinions  of  ortho- 
dox Churchmen  of  his  time,  but  of  those  who  differed  from  the  Church  re- 
epecting  the  form  of  baptism. 


sponsors.  195 

a  manner  as  possible,  in  order  that  "  the  congregation  may 
testify  the  receiving  of  the  newly  baptized  into  Christ's 
Church;"  and  also  that  those  present  may  be  "put  in 
remembrance  of  their  own  profession  made  to  God  in  Bap- 
tism." l  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  this  excellent  regulation 
has  not  been  more  generally  attended  to.  So  solemn  an 
ordinance,  upon  so  interesting  an  occasion,  ought  never  to 
have  been  thrust  into  a  corner,  but  rather  brought  forward 
prominently  into  notice,  in  its  proper  place,  and  due  propor- 
tion, both  as  a  special  means  of  grace,  and  a  lively  emblem 
of  the  only  appointed  way  of  salvation. 

In  the  second  Rubric,  the  Church  requires  that  each  child 
should  be  accompanied  to  the  Font  by  three  suitable  per- 
sons, called  God-fathers  and  God-mothers ;  who  are  to 
answer  for  the  baptized  infant,  to  be  witnesses  to  it  and  to 
the  Church  of  the  promises  made  in  its  name,  and  to  assist 
in  training  it  up  in  the  faith  and  fear  of  God.2 

By  the  xxixth  Canon,  no  parent  is  admitted  to  stand  as 
Sponsor  for  his  own  child ;  the  Church,  it  would  seem, 
requiring  additional  security  in  case  of  the  neglect  of  the 
Parents,  or  their  removal  by  death ;  the  God-fathers  and 
God-mothers  being  a  sort  of  spiritual  guardians  to  supply 
such  deficiency  of  parental  care  and  instruction.    And,  fur- 

i  In  the  Prayer-Books  published  in  King  Edward's  reign,  this  Rubric 
commenced  as  follows:  "It  appeareth  by  ancient  writers,  that  the  sacra- 
ment of  baptism  in  the  old  time  was  not  commonly  ministered  but  at  two 
times  in  the  year,  at  Easter  and  Whitsuntide,  at  which  time  it  was  openly 
ministered  in  the  presence  of  all  the  congregation ;  which  custom,  (now 
being  grown  out  of  use)  although  it  cannot,  for  many  considerations,  be 
well  restored  again,  yet  it  is  thought  good  to  follow  the  same  as  near  as 
conveniently  may  be."  In  the  First  Book,  the  former  part  of  the  service 
was  ordered  to  be  performed  "  at  the  Church  door." 

2  [Our  rubric  does  not  render  this  universally  obligatory.  Neither  have 
we  any  such  canon  as  the  above,  although  some  such  regulation  would 
seem  to  be  desirable.]  On  the  antiquity  of  the  practice  of  answering  for 
infants  in  baptism,  see  Appendix  D. 

"  Though  it  be  the  custom  of  our  Church  for  those  who  are  not  the 
parents  to  engage  for  the  child,  yet  this  stipulation  is  in  this  case  valid  and 
obligatory;  because  they  are  hereunto  appointed  by  their  parents,  who 
have  a  natural  right  over  their  children,  and  make  these  their  representa- 
tives."   Bp.  Hopkin's  Works,  iL  412. 


196  ORIGINAL    SIN    IMPLIED    IN    x,^*  ,lu„. 

ther  to  guard  against  the  intrusion  of  unfit  persons  into  so 
solemn  and  responsible  an  office,  the  same  Canon  forbids 
the  appointment  to  be  conferred  upon  any  who  have  not 
received  the  Holy  Communion.  A  wise  and  salutary  pre- 
caution, which,  if  properly  attended  to,  in  the  spirit,  as  well 
as  the  letter  of  the  injunction,  might  tend,  by  God's  blessing, 
greatly  to  raise  the  tone  of  piety  amongst  ourselves,  and  to 
remove  from  the  minds  of  those  without  the  pale  of  our 
establishment,  many  grounds  of  objection  against  the  ordi- 
nance of  Infant  Baptism  as  administered  in  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church. 

THE    SERVICE. 

We  must  now  suppose  the  Baptismal  party  arranged 
around  the  Font : '  and,  as  Baptism  is  a  rite,  which,  from 
its  nature,  does  not  admit  of  repetition,  the  Minister  first 
inquires  whether  the  child  has  ever  been  baptized  ;  and, 
being  answered  in  the  negative,  proceeds  to  address  the 
Congregation.  "  Dearly  Beloved."  Since  original  Sin  is 
that  universal  disease  of  the  fallen  race  of  Adam,  which 
can  only  be  remedied  by  a  new  birth ;  the  Church  com- 
mences this  solemn  service  by  a  plain  statement  of  this 
deeply-concerning,  and  fundamental  truth.  "  Forasmuch 
as  all  men  are  conceived  and  born  in  sin;2  and  that  our 
Saviour  Christ  saith,  None  can  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
God,  except  he  be  regenerate  and  born  anew  of  Water  and 
the  Holy  Ghost."3  Here,  we  see,  Regeneration  is  clearly 
connected  with  Baptism ;  for  although,  as  Hooker  says, 
"  All  receive  not  the  grace  of  God  which  receive  the  Sacra- 
ments of  his  grace:  Neither  is  it  ordinarily  his  will. to 
bestow  the  grace  of  Sacraments  on  any  but  by  the  Sacra- 
ments.'''' *    But,  as  he  adds  in  the  same  place,  "  which  grace, 

1  From  "  fons," — "  a  fountain,"  because  the  early  Christians  were  bap- 
tized in  fountains  and  streams.  They  were  at  first  built  near  the  Church, 
afterwards  at  its  entrance. 

-  Job  xxv.  4.  Psalm  li.  5.  Rom.  v.  12,  18-  Eph-  ii.  3.  See  Article  ix. 
"Of  Original  or  Birth  Sin"  3  John  iii.  3,  5. 

4  Hooker,  Eccles.  Pol.  v.  57.  (4.)  This  statement  must,  however,  be  re- 
ceived with  caution  ;  so  as  neither  to  infringe  on  the  absolute  freedom  of 


REGENERATION.  197 

they  that  receive  by  Sacraments  or  with  Sacraments,  receive 
it  from  him,  and  not  from  them  ;"  so  our  Church  calls  upon 
us  to  use  the  appointed  means  with  earnest  prayer  for  a 
Divine  blessing.  "  I  beseech  you  to  call  upon  God,"  &C1 
It  is  not  any  outward  or  nominal  Regeneration,  as  some 
have  argued,  for  which  the  Church  pleads  so  earnestly  with 
God.  Not  a  change  of  State  only,  but  of  nature.  This  is 
forcibly  taught  by  the  words  which  follow  :  "  That  of  his 
bounteous  mercy  he  will  grant  to  this  child  that  thing  tohich 
by  nature  he  cannot  have ;  that  he  may  be  baptized  "  not 
only  with  water,  but  "with  the  Holy  Ghost;"  and  so 
"  received  into  Christ's  Holy  Church,  and  be  made  a  lively 
member  of  the  same." 2 

In  the  first  Prayer  we  beseech  God  to  bless  that  ordi- 
nance which  was  prefigured,  in  the  Old  Testament,  by  two 
remarkable  types  ;  the  ark  of  Noah,  wherein  "  eight  souls 
were  saved  by  means  of  that  water"  which  overwhelmed 
the  ungodly  world:"3  and  also  the  Baptism  of  his  ancient 
people  Israel  "  in  the  cloud,  and  in  the  sea ;"  who  were 
"  led  safely  "  between  the  walls  of  those  waves  in  which 
the  Egyptians  were  drowned.4     Who  also  did  vouchsafe  to 

the  Divine  sovereignty,  nor  to  deny  the  existence  of  a  work  of  grace  in 
some  whom  the  Church  cannot  outwardly  acknowledge  as  her  members. 

1  Thus  we  see  prayer  specially  connected  with  the  reception  of  the  grace 
of  this  sacrament ;  in  Acts  xxii.  16.  "  Be  baptized,  and  wash  away  thy 
sins,  calling  on  the  name  of  the  Lord.''1 

2  Let  us  beware  of  low  views,  and  short-sighted  expectations  of  the  Di- 
vine presence  and  blessing  in  a  believing  use  of  this  sacrament.  Archbishop 
Leighton,  (than  whom  the  Church  was  never  gifted  with  a  more  holy  and 
enlightened  teacher)  thus  presses  this  point,  "  The  sacraments,  considered 
indeed  as  seals  of  this  inheritance,  annexed  to  the  great  charter  of  it,  seals 
of  salvation,  would  be  highly  regarded.  This  would  beget  a  due  esteem  of 
baptism  ;  would  teach  you  more  frequent  and  fruitful  thoughts  of  your  own 
and  more  pious  considerations  of  it  when  you  require  it  for  your  children" 
See  on  1  Peter  iii.  21. 

3  1  Peter  iii.  20,  21-    Comp.  Gen.  vi.,  vii. 

4  1  Cor.  x.  1,  2.  Comp-  Exod.  xiv.  29-  Melancthon  remarks,  "  Bap- 
tism is  a  sign  of  mortification  ;  (Rom.  vi.)  not  a  type  of  death,  but  a  sign  that 
through  death  we  pass  unto  life;  a  sign  that  death  does  not  swallow  up,  but 
is  the  beginning  of  the  new  creature.  As  we  see  the  children  of  Israel 
baptized  in  the  red  sea,  through  death  entered  into  life,"  Annotations  in 
John  3. 

17* 


198  PRAYERS. 

honour  it  by  the  Baptism  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  the 
river  Jordan ;  when  He,  who  was  "  without  sin," '  conde- 
scended to  present  himself,  for  our  sakes,  at  the  fountain  of 
typical  cleansing  from  sin ;  while  the  opening  heavens,  the 
visible  descent  of  the  Spirit,  and  the  voice  of  His  Father, 
declared  Him  to  be  the  "  beloved  Son  of  God." 2  Thus  did 
he  "  sanctify  water  to  the  mystical  washing  away  of  sin." 3 
Not  that  any  holiness  was  thus  infused  into  the  consecrated 
element,  to  communicate  to  it  a  new  power  and  efficacy  of 
its  own ;  but  that  it  was  thus  set  apart  for  a  sacred  sign, 
and  a  means  o#conveyance  to  the  worthy  recipient,  of  the 
cleansing  virtue  which  belongs  only  to  the  blood  and  Spirit 
of  Christ.4 

How  full  and  deep  is  the  flow  of  prayer  in  the  petitions 
that  follow  : — "  We  beseech  thee,  for  thine  infinite  mercies, 
that  thou  wilt  mercifully  look  upon  this  child,  wash  him  and 
sanctify  himwith  the  Holy  Ghost;5  that  he  being  delivered 
from  thy  wrath,  may  be  received  into  the  ark  of  Christ's 
Church  ;  and  being  steadfast  in  faith,  joyful  through  hope, 
and  rooted  in  charity,  may  so  pass  the  waves  of  this  trou- 
blesome world,  that  finally  he  may  come  to  the  land  of  ever- 
lasting life,  there  to  reign  with  thee  world  without  end." 
What  uninspired  Prayer  ever  surpassed  this  in  a  rare  com- 
bination of  sublimity  of  sentiment,  beauty  of  language,  and, 
above  all,  that  holy  fervour  of  devotion,  which  marks  the 
promised  "  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  of  grace  and  supplica- 
tions !6" 

1  Heb.  iv.  15. 

2  Matt.  iii.  13 — 17.  Doddridge  observes  upon  this  place,  "  Jesus  had  no 
sin  to  confess  or  wash  away,  yet  he  was  baptized  ;  and  God  owned  that 
ordinance  so  far  as  to  make  it  the  season  of  pouring  forth  the  Spirit  upon 
him.  And  where  can  we  expect  this  sacred  effusion,  but  in  a  conscien- 
tious and  humble  attendance  on  divine  appointments. 

3  Acts  xxii.  16.  4  Acts  ii.  38.     1  John  v.  6. 

s  In  the  First  Prayer-Book,  the  next  words  were  as  follows :  "  Sanctify 
them  with  thy  Holy  Ghost,  that  by  this  wholesome  laver  of  regeneration, 
whatsoever  sin  is  in  them,  may  be  washed  clean  away,"  &c. 

6  Zech.  xii.  10.  At  this  place,  in  the  first  Prayer-book,  the  Priest  was  to 
ask  the  name  of  the  child,  and  then  making  a  cross  upon  its  forehead  and 
breast,  was  to  say  to  it,  "  Receive  the  sign  of  the  holy  cross,  both  in  thy 
forehead,  and  in  thy  breast."  &c. 


THE    GOSPEL.  199 

The  second  Prayer  is  employed  more  particularly  in 
gathering  up  the  encouragements  given  by  the  Lord  to 
earnest  persevering  supplication,  and  spreading  them  out 
before  Him.'  We  see  a  lamb  of  the  flock  ready  to  perish 
in  the  jaws  of  the  "  devouring  lion ;" 2  and  shall  not  the 
sheep  unite  their  bleatings,  till  they  raise  a  cry  loud  enough 
to  reach  the  Shepherd's  ear?  Shall  not  our  very  hearts 
re-echo  the  pleading  words — "  So  give  now  unto  us  that 
ask ;  let  us  that  seek  find ;  open  the  gate  unto  us  that 
knock  !"  "  We  have  brought  this  infant  to  heaven's  gate  ; 
but  we  cannot  make  it  the  child  of  God,  nor  let  it  in." 3 
Shall  we,  then,  go  away  and  leave  it  there  without  a  bless- 
ing ! 4  God  forbid  !  Heaven's  gate  is  opened  by  the  key 
of  Prayer,  and  He  who,  on  earth  healed  multitudes,  through 
the  faith  of  those  who  brought  them  ;5  will  open  the  door 
of  His  mercy  to  this  little  one,  and,  we  humbly  and  fer- 
vently trust,  will  display  the  riches  of  His  grace  in  its  "  spi- 
ritual regeneration"6  here,  and  "everlasting  benediction"7 
hereafter. 

THE    GOSPEL.8 

The  Minister  then  reads  a  portion  of  the  8th  of  St.  Mark's 
Gospel,9  which,  though  not  a  direct  proof  of  the  lawfulness 

1  Psalm  ix.  9,  10  ;  lxxii.  12.  Isaiah  xxv.  4.  John  iii.  36  ;  xi.  25,  26.  Matt, 
vii.  7,  8.  A  valued  friend,  (to  whom  the  author  is  deeply  indebted  for  as- 
sistance in  this  work)  the  Rev-  Charles  Bridges,  remarks  upon  this  place — 
"  It  is  an  eminent,  and,  in  my  judgment,  an  unexampled  specimen  of 
pleadings — taking  hold  of  four  distinct  titles  of  God  successively,  and  per- 
haps in  a  climax.  Almighty  and  immortal  God,  the  aid  of  all  thai  need, 
the  helper  of  all  that  flee  to  thee  for  sitcco}ir,  the  life  of  them  that  believe, 
and  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.'  "  Mr.  Palmer  observes  that  this  Prayer 
has  been  used  in  the  English  Church  above  900  years. 

2  1  Peter  v.  8.  3  Dean  Comber.  4  Gen-  xxxii.  26. 

5  Matt.  viii.  5—13,  16;  ix.  2—6;  xv.  22— 28;  xvii.  14—18.   James  v.  16. 

6  Titus  iii,  5.  When  the  child  is  said  to  "  receive  remission  of  sins  by 
spiritual  regeneration  ;"  we  must  understand  that  pardon,  being  one  of  the 
privileges  sealed  to  us  in  baptism,  when  we  are  spiritually  regenerate; — is 
here  attributed  to  the  work  of  the  Spirit,  though  more  directly  resulting 
from  the  application  of  the  blood  of  Christ.  Comp.  1  Cor.  vi.  11.  Ap- 
pendix "E. 

7  Matt.  xxv.  34.  8  See  Appendix  F.  9  Mark  x.  13—16. 


200  FAITH    REQUIRED. 

of  Infant  Baptism,  yet  certainly  bears  a  very  favourable 
aspect  towards  it ;  and  is  well  improved  for  this  purpose  in 
the  following  exhortation. — "  Beloved,  ye  hear  in  this  Gospel 
the  words  of  our  Saviour  Christ,  that  he  commanded  the 
children  to  be  brought  unto  him ;  how  he  blamed  those  that 
would  have  kept  them  from  him."  '  "  Christ  did  not  indeed 
order  these  infants  to  be  baptized,  for  Christian  Baptism 
was  not  then  explicitly  instituted  as  the  initiatory  ordinance, 
and  circumcision  was  still  in  force."  2  But,  surely,  we  may 
"  perceive  how  by  his  outward  gesture  and  deed  he  declared 
his  good-will  toward  them ;  for  he  embraced  them  in  his 
arms,  he  laid  his  hands  upon  them,  and  blessed  them." 
When  he  said,  "  Of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  God,"  did  he 
not  mean  "  that  little  children  are  admissible  into  the  visible 
Church,  under  the  New  Testament  dispensation,  as  they 
had  been  under  that  of  Moses  ?" 3  Does  he  not  also  en- 
courage parents  to  bring  their  infant  offspring  to  him  that 
He  may  bless  them  ?  And  is  not  this  the  very  design  of 
Baptism,  and  the  implied  request  of  the  Christian  parent  in 
thus  presenting  his  child  to  God  ?  Does  not  this  passage 
also  teach  us  that  the  babe  in  arms  is  as  capable  of  regene- 
ration as  the  adult  ?  and  that,  having  shared  in  the  parents' 
sin  and  curse,  it  needs  also  the  Saviour's  blessing  ?  In 
these  and  many  other  ways  we  might  show  that  the  above 
passage  is  most  correctly  and  appropriately  used  with  refe- 
rence to  the  application  of  this  sacred  ordinance  to  infants. 

Since,  however,  this  Sacrament  is  not  a  charm,4  but  a 
"  moral  instrument  of  salvation,"5  which  is  made  effectual 
by  the  exercise  of  our  moral  faculties,  and  particularly  of 
faith ;  we   are  called    upon   to    "  believe    earnestl)r,"   and 

}  In  the  words  that  follow,—"  how  he  exhorteth  all  men,''  &c.  When 
the  "  innocency"  of  children  is  spoken  of,  the  term  must  evidently  be  under- 
stood not  in  an  absolute,  but  comparative  sense.  So  the  word  must  be  used, 
Jer-  ii.  34 ;  xix.  4.    Comp.  Matt,  xviii.  2,  3. 

2  Scott  on  the  parallel  passage  Matt.  xix.  13 — 15. 

3  Scott  on  Matt.  xix.  13—15. 

4  "  This  is  not  to  be  believed  to  be  of  the  nature  of  a  charm,  as  if  the 
very  act  of  baptism  carried  always  with  it  an  inward  regeneration."  Bishop 
Burnet  on  Art.  xxvii.  s  Hooker,  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  57,  (4.) 


THE    COVENANT.  291 

without  doubting  that  "  goodwill  of  our  Heavenly  Father  to- 
wards" infants  in  general,  and,  therefore,  to  this  in  particu- 
lar, declared  in  this  significant  act  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ ; 
that  God,  who  delights  to  give  in  answer  to  believing  prayer, 
and  whose  mercy  is  his  peculiar  delight,  may  be  glorified  in 
saying  of  this  little  one — "  According  to  your  faith  so  be  it 
unto  you." ' 

Having  mentioned  the  free  offers  of  God's  grace  and 
mercy,  we  are  reminded  of  our  obligations  to  them  ;  and  are, 
therefore,  invited  to  give  thanks  to  Him  for  the  benefits  con- 
ferred upon  us  in  Baptism,  or  of  which  our  Baptism  was  a 
pledge.2  At  the  same  time  we  pray  for  "  growth  in  grace, 
and  in  the  knowledge  of  Christ"3  for  ourselves,  and  for  the 
descent  of  Spiritual  influence  upon  the  infant  about  to  be 
baptized ;  that  it  "  may  be  born  again,  and  made  an  heir  of 
everlasting  salvation." 

We  are  now  come  to  the  most  difficult  part  of  our  subject, 
that  where  Infant  Baptism  is  considered  as  a  federal  act,  a 
covenant  erigagement  between  two  parties ;  in  which  God, 
on  the  one  side,  promises  to  bestow  admission  into  His 
family,4  pardon  of  sin,5  the  sanctifying  influence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,6  and  an  inheritance  in  his  everlasting  kingdom  ;7  and 
the  baptized,  on  the  other  side,  engages  to  renounce  sin,s  be- 
lieve God's  word,9  and  keep  His  commandments.10  That 
such  a  stipulation  is  virtually  implied  in  Baptism  must  be 
admitted ;  and  that  it  should  be  distinctly  made,  whenever  it 
is  practicable,  may  be  collected  from  several  passages  of 

1  Matt.  ix.  29.  Comp.  Matt,  xviii.  10,  14  ;  xxi.  21,  22.  Mark  xi.  22— 
24.  James  i.  6.  On  the  limits  of  our  assurance  in  prayer,  see  Hooker's 
Ecc.  Pol.  v.  48.  On  the  importance  of  faith  to  the  securing  of  baptismal 
grace,  see  Appendix  F.  On  the  ancient  order  of  the  service,  see  Appen- 
dix G. 

2  2  Thess,  ii.  13,  14.    Titus  iii.  4—6.     1  Peter  i.  3,  4 ;  iii.  21. 

3  2  Peter  iii.  18.    Comp.  2  Thess.  i.  3. 

4  Gal.  iii.  26,  27  ;  iv.  1.    Col.  ii.  12,  13.  $  Acts  ii.  38;  xxii.  16. 

6  John  iii.  5.  Acts  ii.  38.     Rom.  vi.  4,  6,  14.    Eph.  v.  26, 27.  Titus  iii.  S 
v  John  iii.  5.    Gal  iv.  7,  with  iii.  27. 
8  2  Tim.  ii.  19.     1  John  iii.  8—10,  with  acts  ii.  38. 
'■>  Mark  xvi.  16.    Acts  ii.  41 ;  viii.  12,  13,  &c.     Rom.  x.  9,  10. 
l  o  Matt,  xxviii.  19,  20.    Rom.  vi.  3—14.    Col.  ii.  11, 12. 


202  VICARIOUS    SPONSION. 

Scripture,1  and  is  probably  alluded  to  by  St.  Peter,  when 
he  says,  "  Baptism  doth  now  save  us — not  the  putting  away 
of  the  filth  of  the  flesh,"  the  merely  outward  act  of  Baptism, 
"  but  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience  toward  God ;"  2  the 
faithful  performance  of  the  baptismal  vows,  or  the  sincere 
desire  and  intention  to  fulfil  them. 

Here,  however,  a  difficulty  arises  in  the  case  of  Infants, 
who  cannot  make  such  a  stipulation  in  their  own  persons ; 
whence  some  have  argued  that  they  ought  not  to  be  baptized. 
The  Church  meets  this  difficulty  by  vicarious  stipulation: — 
that  is,  having  first  proved,  on  other  grounds,  the  lawfulness 
of  Infant  Baptism,  irrespectively  of  those  conditions  which 
can  only  be  required  when  the  parties  are  capable  of  per- 
forming them;3  she  provides  Sponsors  to  answer  for  the 
child,  as  its  representatives,  whose  promises  in  its  behalf,  it 
is  "  bound,  when  of  age,  to  perform."4     On  the  charitable 

i  Acts  viii.  36,  37;  xvi.  30—34.    See  p.  201,  note  9. 

2  1  Peter  iii.  21.  tntpoiTxina,  "  an  interrogative  trial."  Hooker,  Ecc.  Pol. 
v.  63.  (3.)  "  It  is  a  credible  fact,  supported  by  Cyprian,  and  other  ancient 
writers,  that  the  Catechumen  had  certain  interrogations  put  to  him  at  bap- 
tism, concerning  his  faith  in  Christ,  and  his  renunciation  of  Satan,  and  all 
the  works  of  darkness,  and  the  vanity  of  the  world :  and  it  is  very  probable 
the  Apostle  may  refer  to  that  custom."  Doddridge  on  the  text.  See 
also  Justin.  Apol  ii-  79.  Tertullian  de  Coron.  c.  iii.  Cyprian  Ep.  vii.  ad 
Rogatian.  et  De  Lapsis,  &c  &c.  Bingham's  Christian  Antiq.  B.  xi.  c. 
viii.  s-  4. 

3  •'  Such  as  be  of  age  may  hear,  believe,  and  confess  that  which  is 
preached  and  taught,  but  so  cannot  infants:  therefore  we  may  justly  collect, 
that  he  speaketh  here  (Mark  xvi.  16,)  nothing  of  infants  or  children.  But 
for  all  this  they  ought  not  to  be  excluded  from  baptism-  It  is  a  general 
rule,  "  He  that  doth  not  labour  must  not  eat,"  (2  Thess.  iii.  10  ;) — but  who 
so  barbarous,  that  might  think  hereby  that  children  should  be  famished" 
Letter  by  the  martyr  Archdeacon  Philpot,  19th  L.  p.  282.  Exam,  and 
Writings,  Park.  So  Ed. 

4  Church  Catechism,  Answer  to  question,  "  Why  are  Infants  baptized?" 
So  in  NowelFs  Catechism — "  That  repentance  and  faith  go  before  baptism 
is  required  only  in  persons  so  grown  in  years,  that  by  age  they  are  capable 
of  both-  But  to  infants  the  promise  made  to  the  Church  by  Christ,  in  whose 
faith  they  are  baptized,  shall  for  the  present  time  be  sufficient;  and  then 
afterwards,  when  they  are  grown  to  years,  they  must  needs  (omnino  oportet) 
themselves  acknowledge  the  force  thereof  to  be  lively  in  their  souls,  and  to 
be  represented  in  their  life  and  behaviour-"  This  "  acknowledgment"  spe- 
cially refers  to  the  confession  made  before  the  Bishop  previous  to  confir- 
mation. 


VICARIOUS    SPONSION.  208 

supposition  that  the  infant  will  afterwards  acknowledge  the 
obligation,  the  Church  proceeds  to  perform  the  outward 
rite  of  Baptism,  with  believing  prayer ;  and  afterwards  to 
thank  God  for  that  inward  grace  which,  she  trusts,  is  even 
then  communicated,  in  answer  to  her  requests. 

If  we  may  reason  from  human  affairs  to  Divine,  a  method 
of  argument  which  should  be  sparingly  used,  though  not 
destitute  of  Apostolic  example;1  we  shall  find  that  the 
method  of  sponsion  has  been  practised  among  all  nations, 
from  the  earliest  ages  of  the  world.  This,  at  least,  shows 
that  the  light  of  nature,  (which,  within  certain  limits,  is  to  be 
considered  as  a  part  of  God's  moral  government,)  justifies 
this  method.  Thus  guardians  are  empowered  by  law  to 
enter  into  engagements  for  their  wards,  when  minors ;  and 
ambassadors  act  for  their  princes,  whom  they  represent  at  a 
foreign  court,  when  out  of  reach  of  their  instruction.2 

But,  after  all,  we  must  remember  that  this  ceremony  is 
not  an  essential  part  of  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism ;  which 
consists  not  in  any  outward  form,  but  in  God's  promise,  and 
the  exercise  of  faith  embracing  that  promise.3  The  use  of 
sponsors,  however,  is  manifest,  when  rightly  improved ;  and 
we  shall  have  occasion  afterwards  to  observe  the  importance 
of  this  arrangement,  as  testifying  to  the  conditional  character 
of  this  ordinance,  being  essentially  federal  in  its  nature ;  so 
that  when  one  side  of  the  contract  is  not  made  good,  we 
cannot,  with  justice,  claim  the  other.4 

1  Gal.  iii.  15.     Heb.  vi.  16 ;  ix.  17. 

2  See  a  remarkable  illustration  of  sponsorship  in  Livy,  lib.  31.  c.  50, 
quoted  inWheatly;  where  C- Valerius,  as  Flamen  Dialis,  declined  taking 
the  oath  of  ^Edileship,  in  his  own  person,  but  obtained  for  his  brother  to 
be  sworn,  as  his  proxy,  in  his  stead.  Wheatly  adds,  "  Much  after  the  same 
manner,  whenever  kings  are  crowned  in  their  infancy,  some  of  the  nobility, 
deputed  to  represent  them,  take  the  usual  oaths.  The  same  do  ambassa- 
dors for  their  principals  at  the  ratifying  of  leagues  or  articles;  and  guar- 
dians for  their  minors,  who  are  bound  by  the  law  to  stand  to  what  is  con- 
tracted for  them.'' 

3  "  The  promise  of  eternal  life  is  the  seed  of  the  Church  of  God. ' 
Hooker,  v.  63.  (1 ) 

4  "When  we  promised,  there  were  two  things  in  the  indenture:  one. 
that  God  will  give  Christ  to  us ;  the  other,  that  we  must  forsake  all  the 


204  QUESTIONS. 

The  questions  put  to  the  sponsors,  and  answered  by  them 
in  the  name  of  the  child,  are  four;1 — (1.)  Whether  he  will 
renounce  the  devil,2  the  world,3  and  the  flesh'?4  These  are 
the  enemies  of  Christ,  and  of  the  soul ;  and  they  must  be  re- 
nounced by  the  Christian  wholly  and  for  ever.  (2.)  Whether 
he  believes  all  the  articles  of  the  Christian  faith?5  (3.)  If 
he  is  willing  to  be  baptized  into  the  profession  of  this  faith  ?6 
and  (4)  If  he  will  obey  God's  commands  to  the  end  of  his 
life?7  In  so  solemn  a  covenant,  all  the  sureties  should  give 
their  answers  audibly  and  distinctly ;  and  the  congregation 
should  apply  the  questions  proposed  to  their  own  hearts,  and 
follow  the  responses  with  their  silent  prayers. 

The  sponsion  being  concluded,  the  minister  offers  up  four 
short,  but  fervent  prayers  for  Divine  grace  to  enable  the  bap- 
tized infant  to  fulfil  the  promises  just  made  in  his  name. 
And  since  Baptism  primarily  represents  the  mortification  of 
the  old  nature,  derived  from  Adam,  and  the  implanting  of  a 
new  man,  Christ  Jesus;8 — therefore,  we  ask  of  God,  "that 
the  old  Adam  in  this  child  may  be  so  buried,  that  the  new 
man  may  be  raised  up  in  him."  "  That  all  carnal  affections 
may  die  in  him,  and  all  things  belonging  to  the  Spirit  may 
live  and  grow  in  him."9 — "  That  he  may  have  power"  to 
conquer  all  his  spiritual  enemies ; ,0  and  thus,  with  all  those 
who  are  thus  dedicated  to  God  in  Baptism,  being  "  endued 
with  heavenly  virtues,  may  be  everlastingly  rewarded;"  not 
of 'merit,  but  "  through  God's  mercy"  only." 

sinful  lusts  of  the  flesh  ;  this  is  that  makes  baptism  to  be  baptism  indeed  to 
us."    Abp.  Usher's  Eighteen  Sermons,  p.  54. 

T  See  Appendix  H. 

2  1  John  iii.  8—10.    James  iv.  7.  3  1  John  ii.  15,  16. 

4  Rom.  viii.  6—14.  Gal.  v.  16—24.   Titus  ii.  11—14.    1  Peter  ii.  11;  iv.  2. 

5  Mark  xvi.  16,  with  Matt,  xxviii.  19.    Acts  viii.  36,  37.    Heb.  xi.  6. 

6  Aetsii.  41;  xvi.  31—33. 

7  Matt.  vii.  21.  Eccles.  xii.  13.  Luke  i.  75.  Rom.  vi.  4.  Eph.  ii.  10. 
1  John  ii.  3—6.    Comp.  Psalm  cxix.  4,  5,  32,  33,  44,  104,  115,  153. 

8  Rom.  vi.  3—11.     Col.  ii.  5. 

9  Rom.  viii.  6.— 13.  1  Cor.  xv.  22,  45.  Gal.  v.  20—24.  Eph.  ii.  4— 6;  iv 
20—24.    Col.  iii.  5,  9,  10. 

I  o  Rom.  viii.  12—14,  37—39.    Eph.  vi.  10—12.     1  John  v.  4. 

I I  Phil.  i.  9—11.    Col.  i.  9,  10 ;  iii.  24,    Titus  iii.  5 


CONSECRATION.  205 

In  the  prayer  of  Consecration,1  which  follows,  we  remem- 
ber the  "  water  and  the  blood"  which  flowed  from  our  blessed 
Saviour's  wounded  side;2  a  lively  emblem  of  the  twofold  effi- 
cacy of  his  death; — the  cleansing  of  our  pollution,  and  the 
removal  of  our  guilt;3 — as  also  the  institution  of  this  sacred 
ordinance  in  "  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost!"4  by  which  we  are  admitted  into  God's  family, 
and  united  in  the  profession  of  the  Triune  Jehovah.  We 
further  pray  that  a  blessing  may  descend  upon  the  sacred 
rite  we  are  about  to  celebrate,  "  sanctifying,"  or  setting  apart 
"  this  water  to  the  mystical  washing  away  of  sin ;" 5 — that 
by  "  the  washing  of  regeneration,  and  the  renewing  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,"6  this  child  may  be  filled  with  Divine  grace; 
and  now  becoming,  may  for  ever  remain  one  of  God's 
"  faithful  and  elect  children."7 

THE    BAPTISM. 

The  Rubric  here  directs  the  Priest  to  ask  of  the  Godfathers 
and  Godmothers  the  child's  name,  which  being  given  at  this 
solemn  moment,  is  calculated  to  remind  us  ever  afterwards 
of  our  Christian  privileges  and  obligations ;  as  our  other 
name  may  do  of  our  original  guilt.8  He  is  then  to  baptize 
"  the  child  by  dipping  it  in  water,"  or  by  pouring  water  upon 
it."  In  the  warmer  climates  of  the  East,  where  the  bath 
was  in  constant  use,  Baptism  was  more  commonly  adminis- 
tered in  the  former  way.9  But  this  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  an  invariable  rule,  even  in  those  times ; 10  nor  are  any 
particular  directions  given  in  the  Bible  respecting  the  quan- 
tity of  water  to  be  used,  or  the  mode  of  applying  it.  Indeed, 
it  is  scarcely  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  Christianity  to 

i  See  Appendix  I.  2  John  xix.  34.     1  John  v.  b. 

3  Micali  vii.  19.    Zech.  xiii.  1.     1  John  i.  7     Rev.  vii.  14. 

*  Matt,  xxviii   18,  19. 

5  Matt,  xviii.  19.  Acts  xxii.  16.  On  the  use  of  the  word  "sanctify,'' 
see  p.  198.  6  Titus  iii.  5. 

7  John  i.  16.     1  Peter  i.  2—5.    Jude  24,  2.3. 

«  The  Jews  named  their  children  when  they  were  circumcised.  Luke 
i.  59—63 ;  ii.  21.    Comp.  Isa.  xliv.  3-5. 

9  Acts  viii.  38,  39.    Rom  vi.  34.    Col.  ii.  12  1  0  See  Acts  xvi.  33. 

18 


2U6  SIGN    OF    THE    CK03S. 

lay  much  stress  on  the  peculiar  mode  of  application ;  since 
we  are  expressly  assured,  that  "  the  kingdom  of  God  is  not 
meat  and  drink,"  does  not  principally  consist  in  outward  ob- 
servances, "  hut  righteousness,  and  peace,  and  joy  in  the 
Holy  Ghost." ' 

The  words  of  administration  are  those  of  our  Lord's  own 
appointment.2  In  the  first  Prayer  book  of  Edward  VI.,  the 
water  was  ordered  to  be  thrice  applied,  in  allusion  to  the 
mystery  of  the  blessed  Trinity,  which  these  words  express. 
But  our  Church  having  withdrawn  that  order,  a  single  im- 
mersion or  affusion  seems  to  fulfil  the  design  of  the  institu- 
tion, as  symbolical  of  that  One  name  with  which  we  are 
baptized.3 

The  child  having  been  baptized,  is  now  solemnly  received 
into  the  Church,  the  sign  of  the  Cross  being  made  upon  his 
forehead,  in  token  of  his  being  enrolled  in  "  the  Sacramental 
host  of  God's  elect ;"  it  having  been  the  custom  in  ancient 
times  in  the  East,  "  for  masters  and  generals  to  mark  the 
foreheads  or  hands  of  their  servants  or  soldiers  with  their 
names  or  marks,  that  it  might  be  known  to  whom  they  did 
belong.4  And,  as  the  blush  of  the  forehead  is  the  index  of 
shame,  this  sign  is  to  remind  the  Christian  soldier,  when  he 
might  otherwise  be  tempted  to  be  ashamed  of  Jesus,  "  that 
hereafter  he  shall  not  be  ashamed  to  confess  the  faith  of  Christ 
crucified,"  in  whose  "  Cross"  he  is  rather  to  "  glory;"5  but 
"  manfully  to  fight  under  his  banner  against  sin,  the  world, 
and  the  devil ;  and  to  continue  Christ's  faithful  soldier  and 
servant  unto  his  life's  end."6 

The  use  of  the  Cross  in  Baptism,  is  of  great  anti- 
quity ;    and,    though    we   do    not    claim    for    it   any  scrip- 


i  Rom.  xiv.  17.    See  Calvin  on  Acts  viii.  33.  2  Matt,  xxviii.  19. 

3  See  Appendix  K. 

4  Wheatley.  See  Bishop  Lowth  and  Scott  on  Isaiah  xliv.  5,  and  Ezek. 
ix.  4. 

s  Gal.  vi.  14.    Comp.  Mark  viii.  38.    Rom.  i.  16. 

fi  There  seems  to  be  an  allusion  to  the  original  meaning  of  the  word 
"  Sacramentum," — a  soldier's  oath  of  fidelity  to  his  military  commander 
Comp.  Eph.  vi.  10—18.    2  Tim.  ii.  3,  4.    Rev.  ii.  10. 


THANKSGIVING.  207 

tural  authority,  nor  consider  it  any  "  part  of  the  substance 
of  the  sacrament ;"  yet,  as  "  the  abuse  of  a  thing  doth 
not  take  away  its  lawful  use,"  the  Church  has  thought 
fit  to  retain  it  as  a  "lawful  outward  ceremony  and 
honourable  badge,  whereby  the  infant  is  dedicated  to 
the  service  of  him  that  died  upon  the  Cross."  But  if  any 
are  so  uncharitable  and  unreasonable  as  to  accuse  us  of 
wearing  the  "  mark  of  the  Beast," J  as  some  have  done,  we 
may  remind  them  that  the  servants  of  Christ  also  are  de- 
scribed as  having  a  "mark,"2  a  "seal,"3. and  a  "name"4 
upon  their  foreheads.5 

THANKSGIVING. 

The  child  being  now,  by  Baptism,  "  regenerate,6  and 
grafted  into  the  body  of  Christ's  Church,"7  the  minister  calls 
upon  us  to  "  give  thanks  unto  Almighty  God  for  these  bene- 
fits, and  with  one  accord  make  our  prayers  unto  him,  that 
the  child  may  lead  the  rest  of  his  life  according  to  this  be- 
ginning."8 And  what  prayer  so  proper  for  this  occasion  as 
the  Lord's  Prayer,  which,  as  we  have  observed  before,  was 
anciently  considered  exclusively  appropriate  to  the  baptized, 
and  was  therefore  called  "  the  Prayer  of  Believers?"9 

But  here  we  are  frequently  met  with  the  objection,  "  How 
can  we  give  thanks  for  that  which  is,  at  best,  uncertain  V 

1  Rev.  xiii.  16 ;  xiv.  9,  &c. 

2  Ezek.  ix.  4,  "  mark,''  in  "  Arab.  ,_Sj!J  a  mark  in  the  form  of  a  cross, 

which  was  branded  on  the  flanks  or  necks  of  horses  or  camels,  hence 
probably  the  name  of  the  letter  p,  which,  in  the  ancient  Phoenician  alphabet, 
and  on  Jewish  coins,  has  the  form  of  a  cross  (t)  and  from  which  the  Greeks 
and  Romans  have  borrowed  the  form  of  their  T.''  Gibb's  Gesenius'  Heb. 
Lex.    See  also  Professor  Lee's  Heb.  Lex.  and  Leigh's  Crit.  Sac. 

3  Rev.  vii.  3.  4  Rev.  xiv.  1 ;  xxii.  4. 

5  Bucer  defends  the  use  of  the  cross  in  baptism,  "  not  so  much  on  the 
ground  of  ancient  usage,  as  because  it  is  a  simple  sign,  and  conveys  a 
lively  (prcesens)  admonition  of  the  cross  of  Christ ;  if  only  purely  under- 
stood and  religiously  received."  Scrip.  Ang.  p.  479.  [By  our  rubric,  the 
candidate  or  his  friends  may  prevent  the  use  of  the  cross.] 

6  John  iii.  5.    Gal.  iii.  27.    Titus  iii.  5. 

7  Rom.  vi.  5.     1  Cor.  xii.  13.    Kph.  i.  22,  23.  8  Heb.  iii.  14. 

9  Chrysost,  Horn.  10  in  Coloss.  Aug.  Enchir.  c.  71.    See  pp.  53,  54. 


208  BAPTISMAL    REGENERATION. 

We  answer,  because  we  believe  that  God  always  hears  the 
prayers  of  His  people,  if  consistent  with  His  own  glory  and 
their  good ;  and  as  we  know  of  no  hindrance  in  this  case, 
we  confidently  hope  that  our  petitions  are  answered.  The 
Church  has  provided  a  spiritual  service  for  her  children,  to 
be  used  in  a  spiritual  manner;  and  if  we  have  endeavoured, 
by  God's  help,  to  follow  her  guidance,  though  with  unequal 
footsteps,1  we  cannot  do  less  than  give  thanks  for  His  grace 
and  mercy  thus  visibly  signed  and  sealed.  This  is  the  lan- 
guage of  Faith  and  Hope,  and  is  it  not  that  of  Charity  also?2 
At  the  same  time,  we  protest  earnestly  against  the  error  of 
those,  (however  great  their  names,  or  high  their  reputation 
as  divines,)  who  hold  that  the  Church  intended  to  declare, 
what  we  conceive  to  be  equally  unscriptural  and  dangerous, 
the  actual  regeneration  of  every  baptized  infant.  We 
would  fully  concur  in  Abq.  Usher's  statement.  "  Some 
have  the  outward  sign,  and  not  the  inward  grace :  some 
have  the  inward  grace,  and  not  the  outward  sign.  We  must 
not  commit  idolatry,  by  deifying  the  outward  element."  3 

Holding,  as  Hooker  and  our  earliest  and  greatest  Re- 
formed Divines  ever  held,  "  the  certainty  and  perpetuity  of 

1  "  Dextras  se  parvus  lulus 
Implicuit,  sequiturque  patrem  non  passibus  eequis." 

Virg.  JEn.  ii.  723,  4. 

2  So  writes  that  luminary  of  the  Irish  Church,  Abp  Usher,  "  What 
say  you  of  infants  baptized  ?  Doth  the  inward  grace  in  their  baptism 
always  attend  upon  the  outward  sign?  Surely  no.  The  sacrament  of 
baptism  is  effectual  in  infants,  only  to  those  and  to  all  those  who  belong 
unto  the  election  of  grace.  Which  thing,  though  we,  in  the  judgment  of 
charity,  do  judge  of  every  particular  infant ;  yet  we  have  no  ground  to 
judge  so  of  all  in  general ;  or,  if  we  should  judge  so,  it  is  not  any  judgment 
of  certainty  ;  we  may  be  mistaken."  Body  of  Divinity,  p.  39G.  Compare 
Faber's  Prim.  Doct.  of  Regeneration,  B.  iv.  c.  2.  pp.  330 — 340,  who  calls 
this  statement  an  "  Official  Generic  Declaration."  See  also  Dean  Milner's 
Life,  ch.  1G,  who  calls  it,  (pp.  386,  397,  &c.)  "  An  hypothesis,  a  charitable 
assumption  of  repentance  and  faith  on  the  part  of  the  infant."  See  also 
Bishop  Burnet  on  Art.  xxvii.  p.  383. 

3  Body  of  Divinity,  p.  396.    See  also  Abp.  Leighton  on  1  Peter  iii.  21. 
The  passages  here  quoted  from  Archbishop  Usher's  "Body  of  Divinity," 

are  probably,  but  not  certainly  his  own.  See  Dr.  Robinson's  Preface,  p. 
xiii.  and  Table  of  Extracts.  These  remarks  are  applicable  also  to  note  i 
p.  232. 


BAPTISMAL    REGENERATION.  209 

faith  in  the  elect"  !  of  God, — we  cannot  think  that  so  many 
children  have  been  born  again  in  their  infancy,  and  have 
since  wholly  departed  from  God  in  their  childhood,  without 
giving  any  proof  of  a  change  of  nature.  Scarcely  less 
reasonable  would  it  be  to  assert  that  all  the  crab-trees  in 
the  land  had  once  been  grafted  with  apples,  though  they 
still  continue  to  bear  only  their  natural  fruit.  Another  way 
of  explaining  the  subject,  which  doubtless  is  really  difficult, 
through  the  imperfection  of  language,  and  our  limited 
apprehension  of  spiritual  mysteries,  is  to  say  that  the  Church 
here  speaks  sacramentatty,  or  as.  Bishop  Hooper  expresses 
it,  "  gives  the  name  of  the  thing  to  the  sign."  2  Thus  the 
sacrament  of  Christ's  body  is  called  by  St.  Paul  "  his 
body,"3  and  all  Christians  are  called  the  "  temple  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  4  as  being  "  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,"  5 
when  yet  some  of  those  alluded  to  were  living  in  unclean  - 
ness.6  Indeed,  as  long  as  the  baptized  are  of  that  tender 
age  which  forbids  us  to  judge  harshly  of  their  spiritual  con- 
dition, we  may  safely  look  upon  them  as  really  belonging 
to  Him,  to  whom  they  had  been  thus  solemnly  dedicated. 

Here  we  may  pause  for  a  moment  to  observe  what  a  sub- 
lime and  beautiful  spectacle  is  presented  to  the  eye  of  faith, 
when  the  baptismal  party  are  kneeling  around  the  fountain  of 
mystical  regeneration;7  while  the  dew  of  blessing  sparkles 
on  the  infant  brow,  the  sacramental  seal  of  good  things  to 
come,  laid  up  in  store  for  it  in  the  covenant  of  grace :  and 

]  See  Hooker's  Sermon  on  Habak.  i.  4.  Also  "  Discourse  on  Justifica- 
tion, §  26,  and  First  Sermon  on  St.  Jude,  §  12. 

The  author  is  happy  to  be  able  to  refer  to  the  Bishop  of  Calcutta's  in- 
valuable work  on  the  Colossians,  Lectures  xviii.  xix,  for  a  powerful  confir- 
mation of  these  statements.     See  also  Bp.  Davenant  on  Col.  ii.  12. 

*  "  Early  Writings,  p.  G2,  Park.  Soc.  Ed.  3  1  Cor.  xi,  27. 

4  1  Cor.  vi.  19;  iii.  16,  17.    Comp.  v.  1;  vi.  1.5,  16.  5  John  iii.  5. 

6  Bishop  Carlton,  in  his  answer  to  Montague,  "  Examination  of  his 
Appeal,"  p.  104,  105,  speaks  of  those  who  are  "regenerate  and  justified,'' 
"  sacramento  tenus ;"  who  may  yet  "  fall  away  totally  and  finally."  See 
Aug.  ad  Bonifac,  Ep.  xxiii.  On  the  use  of'the  word  regenerate  in  the  Bap- 
tismal Services,  see  Appendix  L 

7  '  Baptism  is  the  font  of  regeneration."  "  Former  Confession  of  Hel- 
vetia."    See  Harmony  of  Protestant  Confessions,  p.  303.  Ed.  1842. 

18* 


210 


THANKSGIVING 


Christian  hope  looks  fondly  and  prayerfully  upon  the  new- 
born child  of  God,  and  realizes,  in  anticipation,  the  full 
possession  of  the  promised  inheritance.1  And  then,  how 
sweet  the  feeling  of  being  one  "  family  "  in  Christ  Jesus,2 
with  which  we  all,  young  and  old,  join  in  repeating  those 
affectionate  and  thrilling  words* — "  Our  Father,  which  art 
in  Heaven."3 

In  the  Thanksgiving,  which  follows,  we  acknowledge  the 
mercy  of  God  in  regenerating,  adopting,  and  incorporating 
into  His  Church  the  baptized  infant ;  and  we  pray  that  he 
may  "  not  receive  the  grace  of  God  in  vain,"  4  but  "  may 
lead  the  rest  of  his  life  according  to  this  beginning :" — that 
"  being  dead  unto  sin,  and  living  unto  righteousness,  and 
being  buried  with  Christ  in  his  death,  he  may  crucify  the 
old  man,  and  utterly  abolish  the  whole  body  of  sin ;  and 
that  as  he  is  made  partaker  of  the  death  of  Christ,"  by  being 
baptized  into  it,  "  he  may  also  be  a  partaker  of  his  resur- 
rection," by  spiritual  renewal  of  the  heart  and  life ;  a  work 
which  must,  in  its  very  nature,  be  gradual  and  progressive, 
being  terminated  only  with  our  earthly  existence  : 5 — "  so 

i  That  deep  thinker,  and  pious,  as  well  as  enlightened  divine,  Dean 
Milner,  thus  expresses  himself:  "  Then  does  baptism  do  nothing  for  the 
infant?  The  answer  is,  it  does  a  great  deal.  Is  it  not  a  great  deal,  that 
an  infant,  who  by  nature  is  under  a  cuise,  and  excluded  from  sonship 
and  from  inheritance,  should  be  visibly  received  into  the  Church  of  God, 
and  be  assured  by  him  who  cannot  lie,  and  under  the  express  sanction  of 
a  divine  ordinance,  that  there  is  still  a  promise  of  an  everlasting  inheri 
tance  for  him,  as  an  adopted  son  of  God,  provided  he  do  but  comply 
with  certain  terms  when  he  becomes  of  age?  Thus  it  appears,  that  an 
infant  regenerated,  here,  means,  that  he  who  was  disinherited  and  not 
regarded  as  a  son,  is  again  received  as  such,  in  the  sense  just  mentioned 
with  a  promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  of  an  everlasting  inheritance." — See 
Life,  p.  398,  2nd  Ed.  abridged. 

N.  B.  The  writer  trusts  he  need  not  add,  that  the  picture  he  has  drawn 
requires  some  reserve,  as  restricted  to  "  the  faithful." 

2  Eph.  iii.  15.  3  See  Appendix  M.  *2  Cor.  vi.  1. 

5  Rom.  vi.  3,  4.  Melancthon  observes,  "  Regeneration  begins  in  bap- 
tism, and  is  completed  by  death."  Annot.  in  Matt.  i.  See  also  Calvin  on 
Acts  ii  38.  Calvin  also  beautifully  remarks  on  this  text, — "  Let  us  note 
that  the  apostle  doth  not  simply  here  exhort  us  to  imitate  Christ, — for  he 
surely  goeth  higher,  delivering  doctrine — that  the  death  of  Christ  is 
effectual  to  extinguish  the  pruvity  of  the  flesh;    and  his  resurrection  to 


DUTY    OF    SPONSORS.  211 

that  finally,  with  the  residue  of  his  Holy  Church,  he  may 
be  an  inheritor  of  His  everlasting  kingdom." 

EXHORTATION    TO    SPONSORS. 

The  Exhortation  to  the  Godfathers  and  Godmothers  well 
deserves  the  attention  of  all  who  undertake  this  responsible 
office  ;  from  a  neglect  of  which  the  Church  has  suffered  the 
most  irreparable  injury.  The  points  of  duty  embraced  in 
this  address  are  the  following.  (1.)  To  teach  the  child  the 
nature  and  importance  of  the  baptismal  vow.  (2.)  To  look 
after  his  religious  instruction,  both  publicly  by  attendance  on 
the  means  of  grace,  and  privately  by  catechising ;  teaching 
him  "  all  things  which  a  Christian  ought  to  know  and 
believe  to  his  soul's  health," '  so  as  to  "  train  him  up  in  the 
nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord."2  (3.)  To  see  that 
he  is  "  virtuously  brought  up  to  lead  a  godly  and  a  Chris- 
tian life  ;  remembering  always,  that  Baptism  doth  represent 
unto  us  our  profession — to  follow  Christ — and  be  made  like 
unto  him — dying  unto  sin — rising  again  to  righteousness — 
mortifying  continually  all  our  corrupt  affections,  and  daily 
proceeding  in  all  virtue  and  godliness  of  living."3 

But  this,  though  an  important  part,  is  not  the  whole  of 
their  duty.  As  example  teaches  more  forcibly  than  pre- 
cept, little  good  will  be  effected  by  the  instructions  of  those 
whose  lives  counteract  and  neutralize  their  correct  instruc- 
tions and  spiritual  admonitions.  A  consistent  Christian 
character,  therefore,  is  a  primary  and  indispensable  qualifi- 
cation for  a  worthy  sponsor.  To  all  must  be  added  fervent 
prayer,  both  with  and  for  their  youthful  charge,  that  God's 

raise  up  the  newness  of  a  better  nature ;  and  that  by  baptism  we  are  re- 
ceived into  the  participation  of  this  grace.  To  be  brief,  he  teacheth  what 
is  the  verity  of  baptism  rightly  received — -for  we  never  have  bare  and  idle 
{■inns  but  when  our  unthankfulness  and  wickedness  hindereth  the  working  of 
God's  bountiful ness" 

l  Matt,  xxviii.  20.  2  Eph.  vi.  4. 

3  Rom.  vi.  3 — 6,  &c.  Archbishop  Usher  well  observes, — "  Baptism  is 
not  done  only  at  the  font,  which  is  a  thing  that  deceives  many;  for  it  runs 
through  our  whole  life;  nor  hath  it  consummation  till  our  dying  day,  till 
we  receive  final  grace."    Eight  Sermons,  p.  55. 


212  church's  view  or  baptism. 

blessing  may  accompany  that  sacred  rite,  which  was  entered 
upon  in  love,  performed  with  faith,  and  is  still  followed  with 
assured  hope  and  lively  expectation.1  And  though  the 
period  of  Confirmation  is  the  ostensible  termination  of  the 
responsibility  of  a  Godfather  and  Godmother ;  the  true 
parent  in  God  will  look  much  further  than  this ;  and  never 
cease  to  labour  and  pray  till  death  shall  have  separated  him 
from  the  objects  of  his  affectionate  solicitude  ;  and  even  in 
his  expiring  moments  will  look  forward  to  the  day,  when 
reunited  before  the  glorious  throne,  he  will  be  able  to  render 
up  his  trust  with  the  joyful  exclamation,  "  Behold,  (here 
am)  I  and  the  children  whom  the  Lord  hath  given  me."  2 

In  taking  a  review  of  the  sesvice  which  we  have  been 
considering,  we  cannot  fail  to  observe,  that  our  Church  sets 
the  ordinance  of  Baptism  before  her  members  in  a  very 
commanding  position ;  elevating  it  in  their  minds,  as  an  in- 
stitution of  Christ,  which  however  simple  in  its  form,  is 
highly  significant  in  its  nature,  and  on  the  right  use  of  which 
much  of  our  spiritual  comfort  and  growth  in  grace,  under 
God,  will  depend. 

We  have  seen  that  in  this  Sacrament  the  great  truths  of 
the  Gospel  are  symbolically  set  forth,  in  a  most  impressive 
manner.  We  are  baptized  into  the  faith  of  a  Triune  God. 
The  doctrines  of  the  original  corruption  of  our  nature,  and 
its  renewal  by  Divine  grace ;  the  mortification  of  sin  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  our  justification  through  Christ,  are  visibly 
confirmed  to  us.  We  are  publicly  sealed  as  the  Lord's 
people,  and  take  him  to  be  our  covenant  God,  giving  up 
ourselves  and  our  children  to  be  devoted  to  His  service.  We 
are  thus  also  solemnly  enrolled  in  the  army  of  Christ,  and 


1  An  interesting  exemplification  of  the  use  which  the  Reformers  made 
of  Baptism,  in  their  devotions,  may  be  seen  in  Bull's  "  Christian  Prayers," 
Parker  So.  Ed.  14,  64.  In  M.  Henry's  "  Method  of  Prayer,"  is  another 
beautiful  example,  in  the  "  Prayer  proper  to  be  put  up  by  parents,"  &c.  A 
solemn  annual  commemoration  of  the  day  of  our  baptism  has  sometimes 
been  found  helpful,  when  duly  and  scripturally  improved.  See  "  Life  of 
Philip  Henry."     Wordsworth's  Eccles.    Biog.  vol.  vi.  p.  213,  214. 

2  Isaiah  viii.  18. 


BENEFITS    OF    DUE    USE.  213 

separated  from  the  world ;  to  be  henceforth  united  in  the 
bonds  of  holy  brotherhood  and  affection  with  all  His  true 
disciples. 

If  parents,  sponsors,  and  ministers,  who  are  engaged  in 
bringing  children  to  this  holy  ordinance,  were  careful  to 
improve  it  in  a  proper  manner,  by  the  exercise  of  a  lively 
faith  in  the  promises  of  God  set  forth  in  this  Sacrament ;  and 
if  they  were  suitably  diligent  in  training  up  the  little  ones 
committed  to  their  charge,  "  in  the  way  in  which  they 
should  go ;" '  looking  upon  them  as  a  sacred  trust  put  into 
their  hands  by  God  himself,  and  for  which  they  must  give  a 
strict  account;2 — were  they  faithful  in  reminding  them  of 
the  vows  of  the  Lord  which  are  upon  them,  and  of  the 
spiritual  mercies  and  privileges  which  are  laid  up  in  store  for 
their  use :  and  were  Christians,  in  general,  instead  of  raising 
curious  questions,  or  doubtful  controversies  about  the  nature 
of  Baptism,  more  ready  to  embrace,  with  a  simple  and  child- 
like faith,  the  promises  of  God's  love  thus  ratified  to  them, 
and  to  believe  their  interest  in  a  covenant  salvation,  wrought 


i  Prov.  xxii.  6. 

2  The  pious  Abp.  Leighton,  "  whose  praise  is  in  all  the  churches,"  has 
the  following  striking  remarks  on  the  misimprovement  of  baptism: 
— "  Truly,  as  there  is  much  guiltiness  cleaves  to  us  in  this  (misimprove- 
ment of  the  Lord's  Supper,)  so,  generally,  much  more  in  reference  to  this 
other  sacrament,  baptism;  which  being  but  once  administered,  and  that  in 
infancy,  is  very  seldom,  and  slightly  considered  by  many,  even  of  real 
Christians.  And  so  we  are  at  a  loss  in  that  profit  and  comfort ;  that 
increase  of  both  holiness  and  faith,  that  the  frequent  recollecting  of  it,  after 
a  spiritual  manner,  would  no  doubt  advance  us  to. — When  parents  are  to 
present  their  infants  to  tins  ordinance,  and  then  might,  and  eertainly 
ought  to  have  a  more  particular  and  fixed  eye  upon  it,  and  themselves,  as 
being  sealed  with  it;  to  ask  within  after  the  fruit  and  power  of  it,  and  to 
stir  up  themselves  anew  to  the  actings  of  faith,  and  ambition  after 
newness  of  life,  and  with  earnest  prayer  for  their  children,  to  be  suitors  ibr 
themselves,  for  further  evidence  of  their  interest  in  Christ ;  yet  possibly, 
many  are  not  much  in  these  things  at  such  times,  but  are  more  busied  to 
prepare  their  house  for  entertaining  their  friends,  than  to  prepare  their 
hearts  for  offering  up  their  infant  unto  God  to  be  sealed;  and,  withal,  to 
make  a  new  offer  of  their  own  hearts  to  him,  to  have  renewed  on 
them  the  inward  seal  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  the  outward  seal  whereof 
they  did  receive,  as  it  is  now  to  be  conferred  upon  their  infant."  See 
on  1  Peter  iii.  21. 


214  PRIVATE    BAPTISM. 

out  for  lost  sinners  by  the  joint  work  of  the  Father,  the  Son, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost ; — at  the  same  time  looking  for  the 
grace  thus  sealed  to  them,  and  in  its  strength  daily  endea- 
vouring to  mortify  sin,  renounce  the  world,  and  follow 
Christ : — we  might  reasonably  and  scripturally  expect  to  see 
blessed  fruits  result  from  such  an  improvement  of  this  holy 
Sacrament ;  nor  should  we  be  inclined  to  condemn  as  vain 
and  unmeaning  the  language  of  our  Church  Catechism  re- 
specting it : — "  Being  by  nature  born  in  sin,  and  the  children 
of  wrath,  we  are  hereby  made  the  children  of  grace." ' 

PRIVATE   BAPTISM. 

We  have  already  observed,  that  the  Church  requires  Bap- 
tism to  be  administered  publicly,  in  all  cases  where  it  can 
be  done  without  extreme  inconvenience  and  danger.2  But 
should  some  urgent  necessity  arise,  (as  in  a  case  of  any 
sudden  and  dangerous  attack  of  sickness,)  in  order  that  the 
child  may  not  die  unbaptized,  the  parochial  minister,  (or,  in 
his  absence,  any  other  lawful  minister,)  may  baptize  it  pri- 
vately, without  the  usual  solemnities  ;  care,  however,  being 
taken,  as  far  as  present  circumstances  admit,  that  "  all 
things  be  done  decently.,'''' 3  in  conformity  to  the  Apostolic 
rule. 

But  should  the  child  live,  it  is  to  be  brought  to  the 
Church,  in  order  that  its  Baptism  may  be  publicly  acknow- 
ledged, the  ceremonials  of  the  service  completed,  and  the 
new  member  of  Christ,  which  has  been  washed  and  set 
apart,  as  one  of  his  lambs,  in  secret,  may  be  openly  brought 
into  His  sacred  fold. 

i  Hooker  beautifully  combines  the  influence  of  vicarious  faith  in  baptism, 
with  personal  faith, — exerted  in  persevering  diligence,  as  procuring  the 
certainty  of  salvation  in  God's  elect ; — in  the  following  passage.  "  Surely 
if  we  look  to  stand  in  the  faith  of  the  sons  of  God,  we  must  hourly,  contin- 
ually be  providing  and  setting  ourselves  to  strive. — To  our  own  safety,  our 
own  sedulity  is  required.  And  then  blessed  for  ever  and  ever  be  that  mother's 
child  whose  faith  hath  made  him.  the  child  of  God."  Sermon  "  on  the  Cer- 
tainty and  Perpetuity  of  Faith  in  the  Elect."  Vol.  iii.  p.  598.  1836. 
2  See  p.  191.  3  1  Cor.  xiv.  40. 


LAY    BAPTISM    UNLAWFUL.  215 

This  is  in  perfect  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the 
Gospel,  which  teaches  us  that  "  mercy"  is  always  to  be 
preferred  to  "  sacrifice  ;"  ' — but  yet  requires  that  "  all 
things  be  done  in  order ;" 2  wherever  it  is  possible  to  do  so, 
without  the  breach  of  the  more  obligatory  rules  of  charity. 

We  do  not,  indeed,  hold  that  the  outward  rite  of  Baptism 
is  absolutely  necessary  to  salvation ;  though  some  of  the 
ancient  Fathers  favoured  such  an  opinion.3  But  still,  we 
dare  not  undervalue  a  divinely-appointed  ordinance,  much 
less  speak  lightly  of  its  presumptuous  neglect.  Our 
Church  has,  we  think,  been  guided  to  the  happy  medium 
between  these  two  opposite  errors  :  on  the  one  hand,  com- 
manding her  ministers  not  to  neglect  the  Baptism  of  children 
born  within  her  pale:  and,  on  the  other,  forbidding  the 
performance  of  the  rite  by  any  but  ordained  ministers  ;4  to 
whom  God  has  given  authority  to  baptize,  by  the  same 
commission  which  invested  them,  (as  the  successors  of  the 

i  Hosea  vi.  6.    Comp.  Matt.  ix.  13  ;  xii.  7.  2  1  Cor.  xiv.  40. 

3  See  Hooker's  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  60,  (5)— (7)  61,  (1.)  See  also  Faber's  "  Pri- 
mitive Doctrine  of  Regeneration,"  p.  317,  note, — where  Augustine's  "  terrific 
speculation"  on  this  subject,  is  justly  censured.  See  Bishop  Hooper's  "Early 
Writings."  Parker  So.  Ed.  p.  131,  133.  "This  ungodly  opinion,  that  at- 
tributeth  the  salvation  of  man  unto  the  receiving  of  an  external  sacrament, 
doth  derogate  the  mercy  of  God,  as  though  his  Holy  Spirit  could  not  be 
carried  by  faith  into  the  penitent  and  sorrowful  conscience,  except  it  rid" 
(rode)  "  always  in  a  chariot  and"  (the  chariot  of  an)  "external  sacrament." 
Our  Church  Catechism  states  of  both  the  sacraments,  that  they  are  "gene- 
rally," (not  universally)  "  necessary  to  salvation."    See  p.  272. 

4  In  both  the  Prayer-Books  of  Edward  VI.,  and  in  that  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, the  Rubric  was  so  worded  as  to  allow  lay-baptism.  "  Let  them  that 
he  present  call  upon  God  for  his  grace ;  and  say  the  Lord's  Prayer,  if  the 
time  will  suffer.  And  then  one  of  them  shall  name  the  child,  and  dip  him 
in  the  water,"  &c.  But  in  1575,  the  Houses  of  Convocation  resolved  that 
lay-baptism  should  be  prohibited  in  all  cases ;  and  at  the  accession  of  James 
I.  the  Rubric  was  altered  to  nearly  its  present  form.  Whether  baptism  by 
an  unordained  person  be  valid,  is  a  point  not  agreed  upon  ;  though  of  some 
practical  importance,  if  pressed  to  its  just  consequences.  Hooker  and 
Bishop  Burnet  maintain  the  affirmative  ;  Wheatly  and  other  writers  the  ne- 
gative proposition.  But  as  Hooker  died  before  the  change  of  the  Rubric, 
his  opinion  may  have  less  weight  at  the  present  day."  See  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  62. 
Burnet  on  Art.  xxiii.  [Neither  the  English,  nor  the  American  Rubric  posi- 
tively forbids  lay-baptism — although  this  history  of  the  origin  of  the  Rubric 
seems  to  show  the  sense  of  our  Church  on  the  subject.] 


216  ADULT    BAPTISM. 

Apostles  in    their   ministerial   office,)  with   the  power  of 
teaching  and  preaching  the  Gospel.1 

The  service  being  essentially  the  same  as  the  one  for 
Public  Baptism,  already  considered,  will  not  require  any 
further  comments.  But  it  is  important  to  remark  how  in- 
jurious to  the  Church,  how  lowering  to  the  character  of 
the  Sacrament,  is  the  practice,  now  so  common,  of 'naming 
an  infant  privately,  without  any  engagement  of  sponsors  on 
its  behalf,  or  any  open  and  solemn  introduction  into  the 
flock  of  Christ.  If  Baptism  contains  a  promise  of  Grace 
on  the  part  of  God,  and  a  covenant  engagement  of  obedience 
on  the  part  of  the  baptized  ;  it  manifestly  calls  for  the  ex- 
ercise of  faith  in  the  united  prayers  of  the  congregation  on 
the  one  hand,  and  the  sponsorial  vows  of  God-fathers  and 
God-mothers  on  the  other.  These  may,  indeed,  be  well 
dispensed  with  in  the  case  of  a  dying  child  ;  but  in  all  other 
cases  the  rule  must  hold  good ;  and  the  Church  which  per- 
mits such  irregularities  must  suffer  for  its  negligence. 

ADULT  BAPTISM. 

In  the  first  propagation  of  the  Gospel,  adults  were  the 
principal  subjects  of  Baptism,  and  the  administration  of 
that  ordinance  to  infants  was  probably  the  exception,  rather 
than  the  rule.  Indeed,  for  several  ages  afterwards,  con- 
verts from  Heathenism  continued  to  flock  into  the  Church, 
"  as  doves  to  their  windows ;" 2  and  kept  up  a  supply  of 
adult  candidates  for  that  sacred  rite.  But,  when  the  Mis- 
sionary spirit  of  Christianity  had  gradually  died  away,  in 
the  long  dark  night  of  the  middle  ages ;  and  a  corrupt  and 
prostituted  Church,  wrapt  up  in  worldly-mindedness  and 
carnal  security,  had  drawn  the  curtains  around  her,  "and 
retired  to  rest;"3  a  rest  only  broken  by  the  dreams  of  su- 
perstition, or  the  midnight  orgies  of  revelry  and  crime: — 
then,  indeed,  adult  Baptism  was  a  thing  utterly  unknown 
and  unheard  of.     Even  the  broad  daylight  of  the  Reforma- 

l  Matt,  xxviii.  18 — 20.  2  Isaiah  Ix.  8. 

3  R.  Hall.    Review  of  "Zeal  without  Innovation."    1827.  p.  74. 


NECESSITY    FOR    SERVICE.  217 

tion  did  not  all  at  once  open  men's  eyes  to  this  great  duty 
of  imparting  the  Gospel  to  those  outside  the  fence  of  nominal 
Christendom.  All  within  that  enclosure  were  baptized,  all 
without  it  remained,  as  they  had  done  for  ages,  perishing  in 
ignorance  and  idolatry,  "  no  man  caring  for  their  souls." ' 

Thus  it  was  that  from  the  time  of  Edward  VI.  down  to 
the  Restoration,  the  Church  had  not  been  provided  with  a 
service  "  for  the  ministration  of  Baptism  to  such  as  are  of 
riper  years  :"  a  glaring  proof  (if  proof  were  needed)  of  the 
remissness  of  our  Protestant  forefathers  on  this  subject. 
And  even  this  late  introduction  of  an  office  for  adult  Baptism, 
was  attributable,  not  to  their  zeal  for  the  conversion  of  the 
Heathen,  but  to  the  rise  and  progress  of  new  sects,  (which,  as 
if  to  chastise  the  Church  for  her  sloth  and  supineness,  had 
sprung  up  in  rank  luxuriance,  during  the  confusion  of  the 
civil  wars :)  who  denied  the  lawfulness  of  administering 
Baptism  to  Infants ; — and  had  brought  that  sacred  rite  itself 
into  such  neglect  and  contempt,  that  the  want  of  such  a 
service  was  daily  more  sensibly  felt. 

The  course  of  events  in  our  days  has  not  diminished  but 
increased  this  necessity ;  partly  owing  to  the  happy  revival 
of  Missionary  zeal,  and  partly  to  the  continued  spread  of 
Anabaptist  and  Quaker  principles,  as  well  as  an  utter 
neglect  of  all  religious  principle  whatever ;  by  which  means 
the  number  of  the  unbaptized  members  of  the  community 
has  been  fearfully  augmented. 

If  these  pages  should  fall  into  the  hands  of  any  (and  many 
such  we  believe  there  are)  who,  inwardly  convinced  of  the 
sinfulness  of  their  present  neglect  of  a  Divine  ordinance, 
still  "  halt  between  two  opinions,"2  and  hesitate  to  "  take  up 
the  cross,  and  follow  Christ,"3  in  the  open  confession  of  His 
name  before  men,  by  public  Baptism ;  we  would  earnestly 
and  affectionately  urge  them  to  study  this  Service,  and 
especially  the  Exhortation,  prayerfully  and  seriously.  We 
do  not  say  that  they  cannot  be  Christians  in  heart,  in  their 

l  Pealm  cxlii.  4.  2  1  Kings  xviii.  21.  3  Matt.  xvi.  24. 

19 


218  SIN  AKD  DANGER  OF  NEGLECTING  BAPTISM. 

present  condition  ;  the  "  epistle  of  Christ"  may  be  "  written" ' 
there,  though  not  yet  "sealed."2  But  we  do  affirm  that 
such  a  state  (if  wilfully  persevered  in)  is  far  from  satisfac- 
tory ;  and,  further,  we  believe  that  such  persons  suffer  great 
loss  of  inward  peace,  assurance,  and  spiritual  comfort,  by 
such  a  measure  of  unfaithfulness  to  that  gracious  Master  and 
loving  Saviour  who  said  to  his  disciples,  "  Ye  are  my  friends, 
if  ye  do  whatsoever  I  command  you"  And  again — "  If  ye 
keep  my  commandments,  ye  shall  abide  in  my  love?'' 
"  These  things  have  I  spoken  unto  you,  that  your  joy  might 
be  full."3 

The  first  Rubric  directs  that  "  Timely  notice  shall  be 
given  to  the  Minister;  that  so  due  care  may  be  taken  for 
their  Examination,  whether  they  be  sufficiently  instructed  in 
the  principles  of  the  Christian  Religion."  Thus  we  see  that 
our  Church  requires  the  utmost  care  to  be  used  to  prevent 
the  admission  of  improper  persons  to  this  sacred  rite.  What 
is  the  exact  measure  of  requisite  qualification  is  not  easily 
determined.  In  a  general  way,  we  may  state,  that  it  seems 
to  be  certainly  lower  than  is  required  for  the  Lord's 
Supper.4  Our  blessed  Lord  and  his  Apostles  seem  to  have 
baptized  all  who  received  their  message  so  far  as  to  be 
willing  to  become  disciples.5  This,  however,  must  have  in- 
volved a  large  sacrifice,  and,  consequently,  have  implied  a 
considerable  measure  of  faith  in  those  who  made  it. 

To  guard  against  insincerity  and  self-deception  (as  in  the 

i  2  Cor.  iii.  3. 

'~  Rom.  iv.  11.  See  Art.  xxvii.  Bishop  Hooper  has  expressed  the  same 
sentiment  somewhat  differently,  in  the  following  elegant  metaphor.  "  Thus 
assured  of  God,  and  cleansed  from  sin  in  Christ,  he  hath  the  livtry  of  God 
given  unto  him,  baptism,  the  which  no  Christian  should  neglect ;  and  yet 
not  attribute  his  sanctification  unto  the  external  sign." — "Early  Writings." 
Parker  Soc!  Ed.  p.  75.  3  John  xv.  14,  10,  11. 

*  [The  above  remark  is  entirely  inconsistent  vviih  the  examination  that 
is  made  of  the  candidate  in  the  service  He  who  is  prepared  to  answer 
the  questions  there  proposed — is  ready  to  be  confirmed  and  to  approach  the 
Lord's  table.] 

5  John  iii.  22.  Matt,  xxviii.  19.  "disciple  all  nations.''  Acts  ii.  41 ;  viii. 
12.  36,  37. 


QUALIFICATION    KEQUIHED.  219 

awful  case  of  Simon  Magus,) '  it  has  usually  been  thought 
advisable  to  defer  Baptism  for  some  time  after  the  first  ap- 
plication for  if,2  by  this  means  opportunity  is  afforded  for 
the  needful  instruction  of  the  Catechumen  in  the  nature  of 
the  ordinance,  and  of  the  solemn  vow  and  profession  con- 
nected with  it. 

The  practice  of  deferring  Baptism  to  an  advanced  period, 
recommended  by  some  of  the  old  Fathers,3  is  now  generally 
condemned.  But  it  is  to  be  feared  that  many  well-disposed 
persons,  the  children  of  sectarian  parents,  are  kept  back  too 
long  from  this  quickening,4  sanctifying,6  and  sealing6  ordi- 
nance, by  an  erroneous  view  of  its  awful  character,  and  an 
exaggerated  idea  of  the  qualifications  requisite  for  its  worthy 
reception.  Without  attempting  to  lay  down  any  positive 
rules,  we  may  state  in  a  general  way,  that  wherever  there 
is  a  mind  instructed  in  the  leading  truths  of  the  Gospel  (such 
as  the  corruption  of  human  nature,  the  atonement  of  Christ, 
and  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,)  and  a  sincere  desire  to  be 
a  disciple  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  resting  upon  Him  alone 
for  salvation ; — it  is  our  duty  to  encourage  such  an  one  in 
coming  forward  to  partake  of  the  rich  spiritual  privileges 
connected  with  a  right  reception  of  this  holy  Sacrament.7 

1  Acts  viii.  13. 

2  See  Bingham,  Ecc.  Ant,  Book  xi.  c.  6.  An  exception  should  perhaps 
be  made  with  regard  to  remarkable  outpourings  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  (as  on 
the  day  of  Pentecost,)  and  the  sudden  conversion  of  large  multitudes  by  a 
Divine  power  attending  the  preaching  of  the  word ;  when  "  a  nation"  has 
been,  as  it  were,  "born  in  a  day."  Acts  ii.  Isaiah  lxvi.  8.  See  Bingham 
ut  supra.  3  See  Bingham,  Book  xi.  chap.  iv.  10,  13. 

•I  Col.  ii.  12,  13.  5  Eph.  v.  26. 

6  See  P.  241.  (3.)  These  epithets  may  sound  offensively  to  some  pious 
minds,  but  they  are  scripturally  correct.  Only  be  it  carefully  remarked,  to 
avoid  dangerous  mistake,  that  we  speak  not  here  of  the  external  rite,  per 
se ;  but  of  the  whole  sacrament,  as  applied  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  the  Lord's 
believing  people.    See  Bridges'  Sacr.  Instr.  p.  117. 

7  [This  is  below  the  Scriptural  standard.  The  Saviour  commissioned 
His  apostles  to  baptize  not  those  who  desired  the  grace  of  faith,  but  those 
who  actually  believed.  Philip  baptized  the  eunuch  when  he  believed 
with  all  his  heart.  Acts  viii.  It  was  so  with  the  jailer,  Acts  xvi. ;  and 
other  cases.  Baptism  is  not  a  sign  of  a  desire  of  regeneration,  but  o!  r 
generation  itself.    Unless  there  be  satisiactory  ground  to  hope,  that  the  heart 


220  WITNESSES. EXHORTATION. 

The  Church  directs,  in  conformity  with  the  ancient  usage, 
that  Fasting  and  Prayer  should  be  used  by  the  Catechumen 
as  a  preparation  for  Baptism  ; '  a  requirement  which,  if  not 
directly  grounded  upon  Scripture  precept,  seems  agreeable 
to  it ;  these  being  the  usual  symbols  and  accompaniments 
of  repentance  of  which  Baptism  is  significative,  and  suitable 
as  exercises  preparatory  to  so  solemn  an  engagement.2 

In  Adult  Baptism,  the  Church  requires  God-fathers  and 
God-mothers,  not  to  answer  for  the  baptized,  or  to  be  their 
sureties,  (properly  speaking,)  but  to  be  "  icitnesses''''*  of  their 
Baptism ;  whose  duty  it  is  to  remind  them  of  their  "  solemn 
vow  and  profession"  here  made,  and  to  "  call  upon  them  to 
use  all  diligence  to  be  rightly  instructed  in  God's  holy  Word ; 
that  so  they  may  grow  in  grace,  and  in  the  knowledge  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  live  godly,  righteously,  and  so- 
berly in  this  present  world."4 

The  Service  being  in  substance  the  same  as  that  for  the 
Baptism  of  Infants,  we  shall  only  have  need  to  consider  the 
few  variations  which  occur. 

In  the  opening  address,  we  have  the  following  appropriate 
addition  : — ("  That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh,)5  and 
they  that  are  in  the  flesh  cannot  please  God,6  but  live  in  sin, 
committing  many  actual  transgressions."7 

The  Gospel  is  taken  from  our  Blessed  Lord's  discourse 
with  Nicodemus  ;8  and  upon  it  is  founded  an  earnest  and  im- 
pressive Exhortation,  pointing  out  "  the  great  necessity  of 
this  Sacrament,  where  it  may  be  had."  Reference  is  also 
made  to  our  Lord's  Institution  of  Baptism,  "  immediately  be- 
fore his  ascension  into  heaven ;"  to  which  he  added  those 
emphatic  words — "  He  that  believeth,  and  is  baptized,  shall 
be  saved;  but  he  that  believeth   not,  shall   be  damned."9 

is  changed,  the  outward  rite  must  be  viewed  both  by  the  administrator  and 
the  subject  as  an  empty  sign.] 

i  See  Justin  Martyr,  Apol.  i.  cap.  79.  Tertullian  de  Bapt.  cap.  20. 
Bingham,  Book  x.  chap.  ii.  <>  9.     3  Jonah  iii.  5.  Joel  ii.  12.     3  Isaiah  viii.  2. 

4  Exhortation  to  Godfathers,  &c.    Comp.  2  Peter  iii.  18.    Titus  ii.  12. 

s  John  iii.  6.  6  Rom-  viii.  8. 

7  Rom.  viii.  5.    Eph.  ii.  1—3.    Col.  iii.  5—7.  8  John  iii.  1— a 

»  Mark  xvi.  15,  16. 


CONCLUSION.  221 

"  Which  also  sheweth  unto  us  the  great  benefit  we  reap 
thereby."  Next  is  introduced  the  testimony  of  "  St.  Peter 
the  Apostle,  when  upon  his  first  preaching  of  the  Gospel 
many  were  pricked  at  the  heart." '  And  again,  "  (in  an- 
other place  the  same  Apostle  testifieth,)  even  Baptism  doth 
now  save  us,"2  &c.  Wherefore  the  Church,  in  her  Exhor- 
tation, adds — "  Doubt  ye  not,  but  earnestly  believe,  that  he 
will  favourably  receive  these  present  persons,  truly  repent- 
ing, and  coming  unto  him  by  faith ;  that  he  will  grant  them 
remission  of  their  sins,  and  bestow  upon  them  the  Holy 
Ghost,"  &c.  The  office  then  proceeds  as  in  the  preceding 
services,  with  little  variation. 

One  point,  however,  is  worthy  of  remark,  which  seems  to 
have  escaped  the  notice  of  ritualists.  The  Thanksgiving 
after  Baptism  (instead  of  being  a  modification  of  the  corres- 
ponding form  in  the  Service  for  Infants,)  is  merely  a  repeti- 
tion of  the  Prayer  used  before  addressing  the  Baptized,  with 
the  needful  alterations.3 

After  a  few  words  to  the  witnesses,  before  alluded  to,  the 
Priest  addresses  the  new  baptized  persons,  as  follows : — "  As 
for  you,  who  have  now  by  Baptism  put  on  Christ,4  it  is  your 
part  and  duty  also,  being  made  the  children  of  God5  and  of 
the  light,6  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  to  walk  answerably  to 
your  Christian  calling,  and  as  becometh  the  children  of 
light,"7  &c. 

The  service  closes  with  a  Rubric  enjoining  early  Con- 
firmation, in  order  to  admission  to  the  Holy  Communion. 

l  Acts  ii.  37—40.  2  l  Peter  iii.  21. 

3  On  the  use  of  the  word  "  Regeneration,"  in  this  Service,  see  Appendix  N 

4  Gal.  iii.  27.  5  Verse  26. 
e  1  These,  v.  5.                                                   7  Eph.  v  8. 


APPENDIX. 


A.  [page  192.] 

Whatever  disputes  may  be  raised,  on  other  grounds,  respecting 
the  proper  form  of  Baptism ;  the  word  baptize,  (Jaimfa,  originally 
signified  nothing  more  than  to  icet  or  wash  with  water,  in  what- 
ever quantity  or  manner  it  was  applied,  whether  by  immersion, 
affusion,  or  sprinkling.  Thus,  for  instance,  in  Mark  vii.  4,  we 
read,  except  they  "  viash"  (tav  ^n  fJaTrTiauvTai,  "  baptize,"  or,  as  other 
copies  read,  pavTioaivrai,  "sprinkle"  themselves;)  "they  eat  not." 
And  hold  the  washiag  {fianrmnovi  "  baptisms")  of  cups,  and  pots, 
and  of  tables,  (Margin — with  much  probability — "  beds")  So 
again,  in  Luke  xi.  38.  "The  Pharisee  marvelled  that  he  had  not 
first  washed,"  (0anri<r6n  "baptized"  himself,)  "before  dinner." 
Compare  this  with  Mark  vii.  3.  "  The  Pharisees,  except  they 
wash  (iui/.co»raf)  their  hands  oft,  eat  not ;" — a  proof,  nearly  demon- 
strative, that  the  words  vm™  and  /?<«■«£;&>  may  be  used  nearly 
synonymously. 

For  further  insight  into  this  subject,  compare  Heb.  ix.  10,  in 
the  Greek,  with  Num.  viii.  7;  xix.  18,  19.  Also  the  Prophecies, 
Isa.  xliv.  3,  "  pour  " — Ezek.  xxxvi.  25,  "  sprinkle  " — Joel  ii.  28. 
"pour  out;"  with  the  fulfilment,  Acts  ii.  33.  Connected  with 
Matt.  iii.  11,  and  Acts  i.  5;  where  the  word  "baptize"  is  used  in 
a  manner,  which  indicates  a  parallelism  of  signification. 

B.  [pare  192.] 

The  old  Covenant  was  not,  as  some  would  represent,  a  merely 
outward  and  temporal  dispensation,  containing  only  carnal  pro- 
mises of  national  prosperity  in  the  land  of  Canaan  ;  but  it  was 
also,  in  fact,  an  earlier  edition  of  the  Covenant  of  grace, — in  a 
less  attractive  and  distinct  form — yet,  even  in  that  one  clause,  "i 

m 


APPENDIX.  223 

will  be  their  God"  clearly  comprehensive  of  all  spiritual  and  eter- 
nal blessings-  The  Apostle  Paul,  in  the  third  chapter  of  his 
Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  fully  proves  this  point,  namely,  that  the 
covenant  made  with  Abraham  is  the  very  same,  in  its  substance 
and  efficacy,  with  the  new  Covenant.  (Compare  Gal.  iii.  7 — 9, 
and  14 — 29.  See  also  Rom.  iv.  13—17  (with  Dr.  Chalmers'  Lec- 
ture, upon  it,)  and  xi.  16 — 24,  and  Compare  Lev.  xxvi.  12,  with 
Heb.  viii.  10.)  It  is  the  more  important  to  dwell  upon  this  point, 
as,  in  the  present  day,  Tractarian  writers  have  combined  with 
the  opponents  of  Infant  Baptism,  in  their  attempts  to  deny  this 
identity ;  and  thus  have  done  their  best  to  unsettle  and  destroy 
the  main  foundation  of  the  Church's  hopes  with  respect  to  the 
covenant  interest  of  her  infant  members  ;  and  the  chief  defence 
of  her  practice  in  admitting  them  to  a  participation  of  her  char- 
tered privileges.  (See  Horn.  xxi.  and  Nowell's  Catechism  on 
Baptism,  on  the  one  side;  and  Dr.  Pusey,  on  Bap.  pp.  109,  130, 
131,  on  the  other.  Compare  also  Faber's  Primitive  Doct.  of  Re- 
generation, pp.  94 — 106.) 

C.     [page  193.] 

In  the  early  writings  of  the  Fathers,  as  in  the  pages  of  inspi- 
ration, we  do  not  find  much  distinct  testimony  concerning  Infant 
Baptism,  which  may  be  accounted  for,  not  only  by  the  scantiness 
of  the  records  which  we  possess  of  that  most  interesting  period  ; 
but  from  the  overwhelming  importance  of  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel.  (1  Cor.  i.  17.)  But  wherever  mention  of  it  does  occur,  it 
is  in  entire  harmony  with  the  statement,  that  no  rule  ever  existed 
in  the  ancient  Church  prohibiting  Infant  Baptism.  On  the  con- 
trary, we  find  it  to  have  been  the  general  practice,  though  admit- 
ting of  some  exceptions.1 

To  mention  a  few  particulars ; — Origen,  about  the  year  A.  D. 
230,  refers  Infant  Baptism  to  Apostolical  Tradition.  Cyprian, 
A.  D.  253,  in  counsel  with  sixty-six  Bishops,  sanctioned  the  prac- 
tice of  baptizing  an  infant  as  soon  as  it  was  lorn.  The  following 
quotation  from  Augustine,  in  the  fifth  century,  is  full  and  explicit. 
"  Although  it  is  most  rightly  believed  that  what  the  Universal 
Church  holds,  and  has  always  held,  and  which  has  not  been  ordained 

1  See  Bingham's  Antiq.  b.  xi.  c.  iv.  5 — 13,  and  Faber's  Primitive  Doc- 
trine of  Regeneration,  pp.  227 — 240.     For  the  exceptions,  see   Bingham 

b.  xi.  c.  iv.  10,  13;   Faber,  p.  237;   and   Augustine's  Coufe9ssions,  b.  i. 

c.  11,  with  Milner's  note  in  his  "History  of  the  Church  of  Christ.''  Vol. 
ii.  p.  302. 


224  APPENDIX. 

by  any  council,  could  only  have  been  received  from  Apostolical 
authority:  still,  if  any  one,  in  this  matter,  seeks  the  explication 
of  Divine  authority,  we  may  from  that  circumcision  of  the  flesh, 
which  the  ancient  people  received,  truly  gather  the  availment  of 
the.  Sacrament  of  Baptism  in  the  case  of  infants." — De  Baptismo 
contra  Donatistas,  b.  iv.  c.  24. 

D.     [page  194.] 

The  practice  of  answering  for  Infants  in  Baptism  is  very 
ancient.  Tertullian  notices  it  as  common  in  his  days;  objecting, 
indeed,  to  it,  as  involving  the  sponsors  in  too  great  a  responsi- 
bility.1 Whatever  we  may  think  of  his  opinion,  his  testimony 
is  unexceptionable.  It  appears,  however,  that  the  sponsion,  in 
early  times,  was  very  generally  performed  by  the  parents  them- 
selves.2 The  origin  of  a  separate  class  of  sponsors,  seems  to  be 
given,  with  much  probability,  by  Hooker,  in  the  following  interest- 
ing passage:  "It  cometh  sometime  to  pass  (saith  St.  Augustine) 
that  the  children  of  bondslaves  are  brought  to  Baptism  by  their 
lord:  sometime,  the  parents  being  dead,  the  friends  alive  undertake 
that  office,  sometime  strangers  or  virgins  consecrated  unto  God, 
take  up  infants  in  the  open  streets,  and  so  offer  them  unto  Baptism, 
whom  the  cruelty  of  unnatural  parents  casteth  out."3  As  there- 
fore he  which  did  the  part  of  a  neighbour  was  a  neighbour  to  that 
wounded  man  whom  the  parable  of  the  Gospel  describeth,  so  they 
are  fathers,  although  strangers,  that  bring  infants  to  him  which 
maketh  them  the  sons  of  God.  In  the  phrase  of  some  kind  of 
men,  they  used  to  be  termed  witnesses,  as  if  they  came  but  to  see 
and  to  testify  what  is  done.  It  savoureth  more  of  piety  to  give 
them  their  old  accustomed  name  of  fathers  and  mothers  in  God,* 
whereby  they  are  well  put  in  mind  what  affection  they  ought  to 
bear  towards  those  innocents,  for  whose  religious  education  the 
Church  accepteth  them  as  pledges." — Ecc.  Pol.  v.  64  (5.) 

1  Tertullian  flourished  about  A.  D.  200  ;  he  was,  in  the  earlier  part  of  his 
life,  contemporary  with  Irenasus,  the  disciple  of  Polycarp,  who  was  a  friend 
of  St.  John.  His  words  are  remarkable. — "  Cunctatio  Baptismi  utilior, 
praecipue  circa  parvulos.  Quid  enim  necesse  est,  sponsores  etiam  periculo 
ingeri,  qui  et  ipsi  per  mortalitatem  destituere  promissiones  suos  possunt,  et 
proventu  malae  indolis  falli."    De  Baptismo. 

2  See  Bingham's  Antiq.  B.  xi.  c.  viii.  1,  2.    Aug.  Ep.  xxiii.  ad  Bonifac. 

3  Ep.  xcviii.  6. 

4  See  Aug.  Serm.  168 :  3  (probably  by  Caesarius)  and  267 :  5  where  the 
"  susceptores  "  are  called  "  pa tres."  Also  Becon's  Catechism,  Parker  Soc. 
Ed.  p.  210,  where  the  "godfather"  is  called  "patrinus"  and  "compater," 
(A.  D-  110  to  153)  by  Hyginus,  Bishop  of  Rome. 


E.  [pace  199.] 

In  King  Edward's  first  Prayer  Book,  the  ancient  rite  of  Exor- 
cism was  performed,  at  this  point  of  the  Service,  in  the  following 
manner: — 

"Then  let  the  Priest  looking  upon  the  children,  say, 

"I  command  thee,  unclean  spirit,  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  thou  come  out,  and 
depart  from  these  infants,  whom  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  hath 
vouchsafed  to  call  to  his  holy  Baptism,  to  be  made  members  of 
his  body,  and  of  his  holy  congregation.  Therefore,  thou  cursed 
spirit,  remember  thy  sentence,  remember  thy  judgment,  remem- 
ber the  day  to  be  at  hand,  wherein  thou  shalt  burn  in  fire  ever- 
lasting, prepared  for  thee  and  thy  angels.  And  presume  not  here- 
after to  exercise  any  tyranny  towards  these  infants,  whom  Christ 
hath  bought  with  his  precious  blood,  and  by  this  his  holy  Baptism 
calleth  to  be  of  his  flock." 

Then  shall  the  Priest  say, 

The  Lord  be  with  you. 

The  People.   And  with  thy  Spirit. 

F.  [page  199.] 

Augustine  ascribes  the  efficacy  of  Baptism  to  faith  in  the  pro- 
mise virtually  contained  in  that  Sacrament,  as  a  "  visible  ivord." 
"  Whence,"  he  says,  "  is  that  virtue  in  the  water,  that  while  it 
touches  the  body,  it  cleanses  the  heart,  but  from  the  efficacy  of 
the  word; — not  in  its  being  spoken,  but  believed?"  And  soon 
afterwards,  he  adds,  with  special  reference  to  vicarious  faith  ,• — 
"  Cleansing  would  never  be  ascribed  to  a  weak  element,  if  it  were 
not  added  'by  the  word.'1  This  'word  of  faith'-  has  so  much 
power  in  the  Church  of  God,  that  by  one  believing,  offering,  bless- 
ing, and  baptizing,  it  cleanses  even  such  a  little  infant;  though 
it  cannot  yet  '  believe  with  the  heart  unto  righteousness,  and 
make  confession  with  the  mouth  unto  salvation.'"3 

G.  [page  201.] 

In  the  first  Prayer  Book,  the  Exhortation  upon  the  Gospel  ends 

i  Eph.  v.  25,  2G.  2  Rom.  x.  8—10. 

3  lxxx.  Tractat.  in  Joh.  Evangel,  xv.  1 — 3.  Comp.  Sermon  clxxvi. 
"  Accommodat  ill  is  mater  Ecclesia  aliorum  pedes  ut  veniant,  aliorum  cor 
ut  credant,  &c.  But  all  these  statements  must  be  received  with  cmaious 
Approbation. 


226  APPENDIX. 

in  the  following  manner :  "  Let  us  faithfully  and  devoutly  give 
thanks  unto  him  ;  and  say  the  prayer  which  the  Lord  himself 
taught.  And  in  declaration  of  our  faith,  let  us  also  recite  the 
articles  contained  in  our  Creed. 

Here  the  minister,  with   the  Godfathers,  Godmothers,  and  people  present, 

shall  say, 

f  Our  Father,  which  art,  &c, 

And  then  shall  say  openly, 
I  believe  in  God  the  Father,  &c." 

The  Lord's  Prayer  was,  in  the  next  Edition,  removed  to  its 
present  place,  after  the  celebration  ;  perhaps  as  more  suitable  for 
the  Baptized.1  It  is  remarkable,  at  least,  that  in  the  service  for 
the  reception  of  children  privately  baptized,  this  prayer  retains  its 
original  place.2 

After  the  prayer,  "  Almighty  and  everlasting  God ;" 

"The  Priest"  was  to  "  take  one  of  the  children  by  the  right  hand,  the  other 
being  brought  after  him.    And  coming  into  the  Church  toward  the  font,  say, 

"  The  Lord  vouchsafe  to  receive  you  into  his  holy  household, 
and  to  keep  and  govern  you  alway  in  the  same,  that  you  may  have 
everlasting  life.    Amen." 

H.     [page  204.] 

Augustine  acquaints  us  with  the  form  of  question  and  answer 
used  in  baptizing  infants,  in  his  days.  It  was  as  follows  : — 
"  Does  this  child  believe  in  God  1  Does  he  turn  to  God  I"3  And 
again,  "  The  sponsors4  answer  for  them,  that  they  renounce  the 
devil,  his  pomps,  and  works."*  And  having  noticed  the  objec- 
tions still  current  against  this  practice  of  sponsion,  in  a  letter  to 
Boniface,  an  African  Bishop  ;  he  replies, — "  The  child  is  said  to 
believe,  because  he  has  the  sacrament  of  faith,  and  to  convert  to 
God,  because  he  has  the  sacrament  of  conversion.  For  sacra- 
ments receive  the  ?iames  of  the  things  which  they  represent."6 
This  answer  evidently  implies  that  Baptism  was  a  sign  of  grace 
to  be  communicated  hereafter,  rather  than  grace  itself,  at  that  time 
communicated.  But  Augustine  did  not  always  speak  in  this 
cautious  manner. 

i  See  chap.  iii.  D.  2  Walker's  El.  Lit. 

3  Ep.    xxiii.  *  "  Fide-jussores." 

6  Serm.  cxvi.  de  Tempore, 
fl  See  Bingham  b.  xiii.  c.  viii.  4,  and  Hooker,  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  64.  (2.) 


APPENDIX.  227 

In  the  first  Prayer-Book,  these  questions  were  put  to  the  Child, 
as  follows  : — 

"  N.  Dost  thou  forsake  the  devil  !  &c." 

This  method  of  "catechising  infants,"  was  vehemently  attacked 
by  Bucer,  who  expends  upon  it  some  of  his  keenest  shafts  ;  com- 
paring it  to  a  certain  practice,  mentioned  by  Chrysostom,  of 
"  baptizing  for  the  dead,"  with  sponsors  to  answer  for  them.  He 
proceeds  to  advise,  that  the  sponsors  should  be  interrogated,  in 
their  own  name,  as  follows :  "  Will  you,  for  your  part,  give 
faithful  diligence,  that  this  infant,  when  it  has  come  to  years 
of  discretion,  shall  learn  the  Catechism  of  our  religion,  and 
having  understood  it,  shall  renounce  Satan,  and  profess  that  he 
believes,  &C."1 

In  consequence  of  this  censure,  the  questions  are  now  addressed 
to  the  Sponsors,  in  the  child's  name  ;  but  it  is  certain  that  some  of 
our  Reformers  were  disposed  to  have  gone  still  further.2  Bucer's 
concluding  remarks  are  worthy  of  attention. 

"These  things  are  done  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  these  pro- 
mises are  made  to  God.  We  must,  therefore,  take  great  heed 
that  nothing  be  said  or  done  rashly,  or  in  a  common-place  way, 
and  not  considerately,  and  entirely  from  the  heart,  as  before  God. 
We  must  always  look  to  it,  that  we  only  undertake,  and  do  those 
things,  which  the  law  of  God  teaches  us  ;  which  are  true,  grave, 
and  tending  to  edify  the  faith  of  Christ."^ 

I.     [page  205.] 

In  the  first  edition  of  the  Prayer  Book,  1549,  instead  of  the 
Prayer  for  Consecration,  and  the  short  prayers  which  precede  it, 
we  find  the  following,  as  a  separate  service,  at  the  end  of  the 
Baptismal  offices : — 

"The  water  in  tlie  font  shall  be  changed  every  month  once  at  least,  and 
afore  any  child  shall  be  baptized  in  the  water  so  changed,  the  Priest  shall  say 
at  the  font  these  prayers  following. — 

"O  most  merciful  God,  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  who  hast 
ordained  the  element  of  water  for  the  regeneration  of  thy  faithful 
people,  upon  whom,  being  baptized  in  the  river  of  Jordan,  the 
Holy  Ghost  came  down  in  likeness  of  a  dove  ;  Send  down,  we 
beseech  thee,  the  same  thy  Holy  Spirit  to  assist  us,  and  to  be  pre- 
sent at  this  our   invocation  of  thy  holy  name :    Sanctify-)-this 

1  Scripta  Anglicana,  Censura,  480,  481.  Fol. 

2  See  Letter  of  Bishops  Grindal  and  Horn  to  Bullinger  and  Gualter  in 
Zurich  letters.     1558—1579.    Parker  So.  Ed.  79.  3  Censura. 


228  APPENDIX. 

fountain  of  baptism,  thou  that  art  the  sanctifier  of  all  things,  that 
by  the  power  of  thy  word  all  those  that  shall  be  baptized  therein 
may  be  spiritually  regenerated,  and  made  the  children  of  ever- 
lasting adoption.     Amen. 

O  merciful  God,  grant  that  the  old  Adam,  in  them  that  shall  be 
baptized  in  this  fountain,  may  be  so  buried,  &c. 

Grant  that  all  carnal  affections,  &c. 

Grant  to  all  them  which  at  this  fountain  forsake  the  devil 
and  all  his  works  ;  that  they  may  have  power  and  strength  to 
have  victory,  and  to  triumph  against  him,  the  world,  and  the 
flesh.     Amen. 

Whosoever  shall  confess  thee,  O  Lord,  recognize  him  also  in 
thy  kingdom.     Amen. 

Grant  that  all  sin  and  vice  here  may  be  so  extinct,  that  they 
never  have  power  to  reign  in  thy  servants.     Amen. 

Grant  that  whosoever  here  shall  begin  to  be  of  thy  flock,  may 
evermore  continue  in  the  same.     Amen. 

Grant  that  all  they  which  for  thy  sake  in  this  life,  do  deny  and 
forsake  themselves,  may  win  and  purchase  thee,  O  Lord,  who  art 
everlasting  treasure.     Amen. 

Grant  that  whatsoever,  &c. 

The  Lord  be  with  you. 

Ans.  And  with  thy  Spirit. 

Almighty,  everliving  God,  &c. 

Regard,  we  beseech  thee,  the  supplications  of  thy  congregation, 
and  grant  that  all  thy  servants  which  shall  be  baptized  in  this 
water,  prepared  for  the  ministration  of  thy  holy  Sacrament,  may 
receive,  &c." 

The  parts  omitted  are  the  same  as  in  the  corresponding  pas- 
sages in  our  present  service. 

But  in  the  next  Edition  in  King  Edward's  reign,  1552,  (in  con- 
sequence of  Bucer's  censure,  p.  481)  we  find  no  mention  made  of 
the  water  in  the  font,  or  of  Consecration  ,•  the  service  is,  in  other 
respects  brought  very  nearly  into  the  state  we  find  it  at  present ; 
but,  instead  of  the  Prayer  for  Consecration,  we  have  the  follow- 
ing words  introduced  into  the  same  form. 

"  Regard,  we  beseech  thee,  the  supplications  of  thy  congrega- 
tion, and  grant  that  all  thy  servants  which  shall  be  baptized  in 
this  water,  may  receive,  &c." 

The  sentence  "  Sanctify  this  water,  &c."  as  it  now  stands,  was 
first  inserted  at  the  last  review,  in  1662. 

Bishop  Sparrow  well  observes,  that  this  •'  Benediction  or  Con- 
secra  ion  of  the  water  is  used  only  for  reverence  and  decency, 


APPENDIX.  229 

not  for  necessity;  as  if  the  water,  without  this,  were  not  available 
to  Baptism :  which  appears  in  the  Church's  office  for  private  Bap- 
tism, where  haste  admitting  no  delays,  no  such  prayer  or  blessing 
is  used."     Rationale.     "  0  si  sic  onmia  /" 

K.     [page  206.] 

In  the  first  Common-Prayer  of  Edward  VI.,  after  the  adminis- 
tration of  Baptism,  the  child  was  presented  with  a  white  vesture, 
and  anointed,  in  the  following  manner: — 

'•  Then  the  godfathers  and  godmothers  shall  take  and  lay  their  hands  upon 
the  child,  and  the  minister  shall  put  upon  him  his  white  vesture,  commonly 
called  the  Chrisom  ;1  and  say, 

"Take  this  white  vesture  for  a  token  of  the  innocency,  which 
by  God's  grace  in  this  holy  Sacrament  of  Baptism  is  given  unto 
thee;  and  for  a  sign  whereby  thou  art  admonished,  so  long  as 
thou  livest,  to  give  thyself  to  innocency  of  living,  that,  after  this 
transitory  life,  thou  mayest  be  a  partaker  of  the  life  everlasting. 
Amen. 

Then  the  Priest  shall  anoint  the  infant  upon  the  head,  saying, 

Almighty  God,  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  hath 
regenerate  thee  by  water  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  hath  given  unto 
thee  remission  of  all  thy  sins ;  he  vouchsafe  to  anoint  thee  with 
the  unction  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  and  bring  thee  to  the  inheritance 
of  everlasting  life.     Amen." 

These  ceremonies,  though  beautifully  expressive  in  themselves, 
"carried,"  as  Bucer  wisely  observed,  "  more  show  of  regard,  and 
reverence  to  the  mysteries  of  our  religion,  than  men  really 
retained;  and  consequently  tended  to  cherish  superstition  in  the 
minds  of  the  people,  rather  than  religion  and  true  godliness."'- 
They  were,  therefore,  rescinded  at  the  next  review. 

L.     [page  209.] 

It  is  of  much  importance  that  we  should  form  a  right  estimate 
of  the  spiritual  benefits  to  be  derived  from  the  ordinance  of  Bap- 
tism, both  on  account  of  the  neglect  of  this  Divine  institution  by 
too  many  at  the  present  day,  the  abuse  of  it  by  other's,  and  the 
exaggeration  of  its  influence  by  a  numerous  party  both  in  and 
out  of  the  Church. 

We  have  seen  that  our  Church  defines  this  Sacrament  to  be  a 
11  sign"  of  regeneration,  and  "seal"  of  the  promises,  and  a  means, 

I  i.  e.  the  anointing  robe.  2  Buceri  Scripta  Anglic,  p.  478 

20 


230  APPENDIX. 

when  "rightly  received,"  of  spiritual   union  with   Christ,  thus 
making  us  partakers  of  all  the  benefits  of  His  redemption. 

That  Baptism  is  a  sign  and  seal,  few  persons  will  be  inclined  to 
doubt;  but  that  it  is  also  a  means  of  grace,  a  channel  along 
which,  as  by  the  Word  of  God,  so  by  His  Sacraments  also,  the 
blessings  of  salvation  flow,  and  are  derived  to  man,  is  a  point 
which  has  been  much  controverted.  But  that  it  is  a  view  strictly 
scriptural  we  may  collect  from  such  passages  as  the  following. 

Baptism  is  spoken  of  as  a  means  of  obtaining  remission  of  sins.1 
"Repent,  and  be  baptized  every  one  of  you  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ/w  the  remission  of  sins."  (Acts  ii.  38.)  "Arise,  and  be  bap- 
tized, and  wash  away  thy  sins  "  (xxii.  16.)  As  a  means  of  receiving 
the  Holy  Ghost, "  Be  baptized  and  ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost''''  (ii.  38.)  As  a  means  of  regeneration  and  sanctification, 
"  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God  " 
(John  iii. 3.)  Explained  and  unfolded  (v.  5,)  "Except  a  man  be  born 
of  water  and  of  the  Spirit."  "  Christ  loved  the  Church,  and  gave 
himself  for  it ;  that  he  might  sanctify  and  cleanse  it  by  the  washing 
of  water  by  the  word  "  (Eph.  v.  25,  26.)  "  The  washing  of  re- 
generation "  (Tit.  iii.  5.)  As  a  means  of  union  with  Christ,  and 
consequent  death  unto  sin  ,■  "  Know  ye  not,  that  so  many  of  us  as 
were  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ,  were  baptized  into  his  death? 
Therefore  we  are  buried  with  him  by  baptism  into  death"  (Rom. 
vi.  3,  4.)  "Buried  with  him  in  Baptism"  (Col.  ii.  12.)  "As 
many  of  you  as  have  been  baptized  into  Christ  have  put  on 
Christ"  (Gal.  iii.  27.)  And  lastly,  as  a  means  of  salvation  ,•  "He 
that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved"  (Mark  xvi.  16.) 
"  Baptism  doth  now  save  us,  not  the  putting  away  the  filth  of  the 
-flesh  "  (1  Pet.  ii.  21,)  "He  hath  saved  us  by  the  washing  of  regene- 
ration "  (Titus  iii.  6.) 

But  still  as  if  to  guard  us  against  the  gross  and  dangerous  error 
of  supposing  that  any  virtue  resided  in  the  mere  outward  act;  we 
may  observe  that  some  spiritual  agency  is  ever  included  as 
accompanying  the  outward  rite,  and  making  it  a  successful  instru- 
ment of  the  grace  of  God.  Thus,  if  St.  Peter  exhorts  his  hearers 
to  "be  baptized  for  the  remission  of  sins,"  he  first  requires  them 
to  "repent ,■"  and  then,  says  he,  "Ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the 
Holy  Ghost"  (Acts  ii.  38.)  Again,  when  Ananias  told  Saul  to 
"Arise,  and  be  baptized,  and  wash  away  his  sins;"  he  expressly 

l  These  texts  may  be  regarded  rather  as  proving  that  Baptism  is  a  seal, 
than  a  means. — Yet  surely  if  pardon  is  not  said  to  be  obtained,  it  is  said  to 
be  confirmed  by  Baptism  which  still  answers  to  our  former  assertion,  that 
Baptism  is  a  means  of  grace. 


APPENDIX.  231 

adds,  that  he  was  to  "call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord"  (xxii.  16;) 
intimating  that  without  believing  prayer  the  mere  act  of  Baptism 
would  be  of  no  avail.  If  the  same  Paul  declares  that  Christ 
"sanctifies  his  Church  with  the  washing  of  water,"  he  adds  that 
it  is  "by  the  word"  (Eph.  v.  26,)  or  the  influence  of  the  Gospel 
received  by  faith,  that  this  effect  is  accomplished.1  And  when, 
again,  he  asserts  that  God  has  "saved  us  by  the  washing  of 
regeneration,"  he  takes  care  to  notice  "the  renewing"  work  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  as  accompanying  this  change  (Tit.  iii.  5.) 

Lastly,  when  St.  Peter  has  made  use  of  that  strong  expression, 
respecting  Baptism,  that  it  "now  saves  us,"  he  instantly  qualifies 
his  statement  by  the  following  clear  explanation  of  his  meaning : 
— "not  the  putting  away  of  the  filth  of  the  flesh,  but  the  ansiver  of 
a  good  conscience  toward  God"  (1  Pet.  iii.  21.) 

It  appears,  then,  as  far  as  these  passages  of  scripture  are  con- 
cerned, that,  except  in  cases  where  repentance,  faith,  o/  some 
other  evidences  of  spiritual  life  precede,  we  cannot  prove  any 
necessary  connection  between  Baptism  and  Regeneration. 

The  above  texts,  however,  refer  principally  to  the  case  of  adults. 
In  that  of  infants,  which,  from  its  impalpable  character,  is  more 
difficult  of  proof,  much  light  may  be  obtained  from  the  parallel 
case  of  circumcision.  As  under  the  old  dispensation,  all  who 
were  circumcised,  were  accounted  the  "children  of  the  covenant  " ~ 
and  had  its  promises  sealed  to  them  as  their  inheritance ;  but 
those  only  who  embraced  those  promises,  obediently  serving  God, 
and  believing  in  his  Christ,  were  the  chosen  seed,  "  the  remnant 
according  to  the  election  of  grace"  (Rom.  xi.  5.  Comp.  ix.  6 — 8  ;  iv. 
12 :) — So,  under  the  New  Testament  dispensation,  all  who  are 
baptized  are  regarded  as  sacramentally  regenerate,  and  made  real 
members  of  Christ,  till,  by  their  unbelief  and  disobedience,  they 
have  proved  the  contrary,  (Gal.  iii.  26,  27;  1  Cor.  i.  2  ;  iii.  16,  17; 

1  The  same  remark  respecting  faith;  may  be  applied  to  Gal.  iii.  27,  com- 
pared with  26,  and  Col.  ii.  12. 

-  Acts  iii.  25.  Calvin  remarks  upon  this  text:  "Certainly  Peter  here 
affirms  that  this  is  of  force  under  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  that  God  adopts 
the  children  together  with  the  fathers ;  and  so,  consequently,  the  grace  of 
salvation  may  be  extended  unto  those  which  are  as  yet  unborn,  (Rorn.  ix.  ".) 
I  grant,  indeed,  that  many  which  are  the  children  of  the  faithful,  according 
to  the  flesh,  are  counted  bastards,  and  not  legitimate,  because  they  thrust 
t  In in  selves  out  of  the  holy  ■progeny  through  their  unbelief.  But  this  does  not 
hinder  the  Lord  from  calling  and  admitting  the  seed  of  the  godly  into  fel- 
lowship of  his  grace.  And  so,  although  the  common  election  is  not  effec- 
tual in  all,  yet  may  it  open  a  door  to  special  election  ;  as  Paul  treats  in  Rom. 
xi.  23,  whence  we  must  seek  a  solution  of  this  question." 


232  APPENDIX. 

2  Cor.  i.  2;  Comp.  1  Cor.  vi.  15 — 19.)  "They  were  not  all  Israel 
which  were  of  Israel"  (Rom.  ix.  6;) — neither  are  they  all  Chris- 
tians, whom  the  Church,  in  her  official  character,  has  called  "re- 
generate." Some  have  nothing  more  than  the  name,  and  are  as 
much  strangers  to  Christ  as  the  unconverted  heathen. 

Here  is  no  harsh  and  unjust  exclusion.  The  offers  of  salva- 
tion are  made  to  all  in  the  visible  Church  ;  but  sinners  reject 
them  at  their  own  peril  and  cost.  At  the  same  time  we  must 
maintain,  that  although,  in  their  infancy,  they  were  regarded  as 
Christians,  they  never  were  such  in  reality.  "They  went  out 
from  us,  because  they  were  not  of  us ,-  for  if  they  had  been  of  us, 
thejr  would  no  doubt  have  continued  with  us"  (1  John  ii.  19.)  As 
for  him  that  is  truly  "  born  of  God,"  "  his  seed  remaineth  in  kirn  " 
(1  John  iii.  9,)  so  that,  though  he  may  fall  into  sin,  he  cannot  con- 
tinue therein,  and  so  fail  of  salvation  (John  vi.  37 — 39;  x.  27 — 29.) 
This  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Bible,  the  Reformers,  and  the  Church  of 
England.  To  apply  any  lowered  meaning  to  her  simple  and  scrip- 
tural statement,  in  the  17ih  Article,  would  be  to  pull  the  key-stone 
out  of  the  arch  which  supports,  and  binds  together,  in  a  compact 
and  beautiful  harmony,  the  whole  system  of  the  Gospel.  She  may 
indeed  speak  of  Baptism  as  the  earnest  of  that  regeneration  of  which 
it  is  the  sign  and  seal;  and,  to  the  true  children  of  God — an  effectual 
means  of  grace  ,• — but  we  cannot  allow  that  any  are  really  born 
again,  till  the  period  arrives,  whether  sooner  or  later,  when,  by 
Divine  Grace,  they  are  actually  converted  to  God.1  To  assert  that 
all  have  been  inwardly  renewed  by  the  Holy  Spirit  received  in 
Baptism,  though  a  great  number,  (probably  a  large  majority,)  have 
wholly  departed  from  God  before  they  came  to  years  of  discretion  ,• 
is  to  maintain  a  fiction,  unsound  in  theory,  absurd  in  its  practical 
application,  dangerous  m  its  tendency,  and  without  any  authority 
either  in  Scripture,  or  in  the  fairly  interpreted  statements  of  the 
Church.  The  high  tone  of  her  doctrine  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
spiritual  character  of  her  services,  on  the  other,  render  it  exceed- 
ingly improbable,  that  she  should  thus  fritter  away  the  force  of 

i  "  Baptism,  to  every  elect  infant,  is  a  seal  of  the  righteousness  of  Christ, 
to  be  extraordinarily  applied  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  if  it  die  in  its  infancy — to 
be  apprehended  by  faith,  if  it  live  to  years  of  discretion;  so  that  as  Baptism 
administered  to  those  of  years  is  not  effectual  unless  they  believe,  so  we 
can  make  no  comfortable  use  of  our  Baptism  administered  in  our  infancy 
until  we  believe." — Abp.  Usher's  Body  of  Divinity,  p.  368.  [The  passages 
here  quoted  from  Archbishop  Usher's"  Body  of  Divinity,"  ate  probably,  but 
not  certainly  his  own.  See  Dr.  Robinson's  Preface,  p.  xiii.  and  Table  of 
Extracts] 


atpkndix.  233 

Scripture  terms,  and  reduce  Regeneration  to  a  mere  name,  with- 
out any  abiding  influence  on  the  heart  and  life. 

Either  then,  Baptismal  Regeneration  is,  as  Augustine  seems  to 
have  occasionally  suggested,  a  merely  external  change  ,•  an  opinion 
quite  unsupported  by  the  language  of  the  service  which  we  have 
been  considering;  or,  it  is  the  peculiar  privilege  of  those  who  are 
"  sanctified  by  the  Holy  Ghost,"  viz.  "  all  the  elect  people  of  God." 
Taking  this  principle  as  our  key,  we  shall  find  the  whole  of  our 
authorized  formularies  to  harmonize  with  each  other,  and  with 
Scripture,  and,  in  particular,  we  shall  have,  in  this  Divine  ordi- 
nance, "  an  outward  and  visible  sign  of  an  inward  and  spiritual 
grace  ;"  a  sure  warrant  for  faith  to  rest  upon,  not  an  "opus  ope- 
ratum "  for  superstitious  ignorance  and  presumption  to  fortify 
themselves  with. 

In  drawing  this  lengthened  discussion  to  a  close,  we  may  re- 
mark, that  the  founders  of  the  Church  of  England,  in  following 
the  example  of  the  inspired  writers,  by  applying  to  the  members 
of  a  visible  Church  the  attributes  of  that  Church  which  is  invisi- 
ble, were  generally  careful  to  guard  their  language  against  mis- 
take and  abuse,  by  the  introduction  of  suitable  cautions,  and  state- 
ments of  sound  doctrine.  Less  wise,  and  guarded,  and  therefore, 
less  scriptural,  was  the  usual  tone  and  language  of  the  Fathers 
of  the  Ancient  Church.  In  the  earliest  and  purest  ages  of  Chris- 
tianity, indeed,  when  the  open  profession  of  faith  by  Baptism  was 
attended  not  only  with  contempt,  but  danger  and  suffering  for  the 
cross  of  Christ,  when  comparatively  few  infants  were  admitted 
into  the  Church,  and  a  rigid  discipline  was  exercised  upon  all  its 
members; — there  was  comparatively  little  danger  of  misapplica- 
tion and  mistake  in  regarding  as  regenerate  the  whole  company 
of  the  baptized.  But,  alas,  the  case  soon  altered  for  the  worse; 
and  as  corruption  of  morals  crept  in,  false  doctrines  were  en- 
grafted, and  inflated  views  of  sacramental  efficacy  soon  grew  into 
high  repute.  Thus  Augustine,  the  most  eminent  and  enlightened 
Divine  of  the  post-Nicene  age,  scrupled  not  to  speak  of  Baptism 
as  "the  remission  of  all  sins,"  and  even  to  argue  that  suicide,  if 
ever  it  were  lawful,  would  be  desirable  immediately  after  receiv- 
ing that  sacred  rite,  as  a  compendious  way  of  securing  a  happy 
immortality:  a  mode  of  speaking  which,  to  say  the  least,  ex- 
hibited a  very  gross  and  unscriptural  view  of  Baptismal  regene- 
ration, and  that  too  in  a  discourse  to  the  heathen  (De  Civit.  Dei. 
lib.  i.  cap.  27.)  The  Reformation  itself  does  not  appear  to  have 
completely  dissipated  the  cloud  of  superstition  which  hung  over 
the  sacred  mysteries  of  our  holy  religion.     Luther,  in  particular, 

20* 


234  APPENDIX. 

was  far  from  clearness  and  consistency  in  his  statements  on  these 
difficult  subjects.  Nor  do  we  dare  to  condemn  him.  But  let  us 
call  no  man  master  in  Divine  learning.  Even  our  own  immortal 
Hooker,  Bishop  Pearson,  and  other  illustrious  names,  have  lent 
their  high  authority,  with  more  or  less  effect,  in  support  of  ex- 
aggerated and  dangerous  views  of  the  efficacy  of  Baptism.  Thus 
the  specious  and  delusive  doctrine  of  Baptismal  Regeneration,  in 
its  grosser  or  more  palliated  form,  has  come  down,  with  high 
sanction,  to  our  own  times,  and  is  now  again  spreading  itself,  as 
a  virulent  poison,  in  the  bosom  of  our  Church,  with  the  most  im- 
minent danger  to  the  power  and  life  of  our  Christianity.  In 
maintaining  this  theoretical  tenet  in  open  defiance  of  experience 
and  scripture  testimony,  these  misguided  teachers  have  under- 
mined the  foundations  of  truth,  and  thrown  a  veil  of  obscurity 
and  mysticism  over  the  whole  of  the  beautiful  fabric  of  Evan- 
gelic doctrine.  If  even  under  the  old  dispensation,  "he  was  not 
a  Jew  who  was  one  outwardly"  thus  much  may,  at  least,  be 
affirmed  of  the  Church  of  Christ;  and  to  assert  the  contrary  is  to 
symbolize  with  Popery,  that  worst  corruption  of  Christianity. 
As  Bishop  Jewel  strongly  and  justly  expresses  himself, — "  Verily, 
to  ascribe  felicity,  or  remission  of  sins,  which  is  the  inward  work 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  unto  any  manner  of  outward  action  whatso- 
ever, it  is  a  superstitious,  a  gross,  and  a  Jewish  error." — Reply  to 
Hardinge.  p.  442. 

M.     [page  210.] 

In  the  first  Prayer  Book,  the  declaration,  "Seeing  now,  dearly 
beloved,"  &c,  with  the  following  Thanksgiving,  did  not  occur; 
and  the  Exhortation  to  the  Sponsors  came  immediately  after  the 
ceremony  of  Baptism.  When  we  consider  the  offence  which  has 
been  caused  to  many  pious  minds,  not  ill  disposed  towards  the 
order  of  our  Church,  by  this  part  of  our  excellent  service;  it  may 
appear  worth  while  to  inquire  whether  it  is  so  necessary  to  the 
completeness  of  the  whole,  as  not  to  admit  of  revision  and  im- 
provement. Indeed,  though  ourselves  able  to  use  it  with  satisfac- 
tion, as  not  stronger  than  the  scriptural  statement,  "As  many  of 
you  as  have  been  baptized  into  Christ  have  put  on  Christ;"  l — yet 
when  we  look  at  the  Apostolic  rule  of  charitable  condescension 
to  our  weaker  brethren,"2  we  could  almost  wish  it  had  never  been 
inserted.3 

i  Gal.  iii.  27.  2  Rom.  xiv.  15,  16.    1  Cor.  viii.  11—13. 

3  See  "  England  in  the  Sixteenth  Century."     Rel.  Tr.  Soc.  p.  138. 


APPENDIX.  235 

N.     [page  221.] 

It  is  admitted  on  all  hands,  that  regeneration  is  not  invariably 
connected  with  Baptism,  in  the  case  of  adults.  Consequently 
those  words, "  Seeing  these  persons  are  regenerate,"  must  be  under- 
stood as  a  charitable  assumption,  and  not  as  an  absolute  statement, 
in  the  strongest  and  most  unqalified  sense.  If  the  possibility  of 
hypocrisy  and  self-deception,  require  us  to  speak  cautiously  and 
hypothetically,  in  this  case  ;  why  may  not  the  same  caution  be 
needful  in  the  case  of  infants,  where  we  can  know  as  little  of  the 
inward  disposition  1  And  what  good  reason  can  be  given  why 
the  language  of  charity  should  be  understood  and  approved  in  the 
one  case,  and  rejected  as  insufferably  harsh  and  inadmissible, 
in  the  other  1  The  reply  to  this  argument,  that  there  is  no  obsta- 
cle to  the  grace  of  God  in  the  infant,  while  there  may  be  in  the 
adult,  we  reject ; — because  this  is  going  further  than  God's  word 
will  warrant  us.  Original  sin  is  an  obstacle  existing  in  all,  and 
nothing  but  Divine  grace  can  overcome  it.  This  answer  is  there- 
fore merely  a  "  petitio  principii."  See  Faber's  'Primitive  Doc- 
trine of  Regeneration,'    pp.  344 — 346. 

Bishop  Burnet  observed  (on  Acts  xxvii.)  that  "The  office  for 
Baptizing  Infants  is  in  the  same  words  with  that  for  persons  of 
riper  age  ;  because  infants,  being  then  in  the  power  of  their 
parents,  are  considered  as  in  them,  and  as  binding  themselves  by 
the  vows  they  make  in  their  name.  Therefore  the  office  carries  on 
the  supposition  of  an  internal  regeneration."  And,  although  the 
service  for  adult  Baptism  was  taken  from  that  of  Infants,  yet  the 
Bishop's  argument  is  still  valid  ;  because,  (as  Mr.  Palmer  hns 
shown,)  "The  ancient  Church"  also  "went  upon  the  supposition 
that  the  Infant  was  an  adult  convert  from  Heathenism  ,-"  and  so, 
"the  service  for  Infant  Baptism  was  anciently  preceded  by  the 
office  for  making  a  catechumen. — Palm.  vol.  ii.  169. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 


THE    CATECHISM. 


When  our  blessed  Saviour  commanded  "  the  eleven*'  to 
"  Go  and  make  disciples  of  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in 
the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,"  he  added,  "  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things 
whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you."1  In  obedience  to  this 
injunction,  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  having  provided 
a  form  for  Infant  Baptism,  now  proceeds  to  furnish  her  mem- 
bers with  a  Catechism?  or  form  of  instruction  by  questions 
and  answers ; — in  order  that  those  who  have,  in  their  in- 
fancy, been  admitted  into  her  communion,  may  be  able  to 
answer  that  important  inquiry,  "  What  mean  ye  by  this  ser- 
vice'?"3 and,  being  "trained  up,"  from  their  early  years,  "in 
the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord,"4  may  exhibit,  in 
their  lives,  those  fruits  of  faith  and  holiness,  the  seeds  of 
which  were  sown, — not  only  in  the  prayerful  administration 
of  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism, — but  in  that  Christian  educa- 
tion which,  (when  circumstances  admit,)  is  so  necessary  to 
be  added  to  it. 

If,  during  the  patriarchal  dispensation,  Abraham  "  com- 
manded his  children  and  his  household  after  him,"  to  "keep 
the  way  of  the  Lord;"5 — if  the  Israelites  were  enjoined  to 

1  Matt,  xxviii.  19,  20,  and  Margin. 

2  From  Ktxrrixtw,  to  "  instruct,  in  the  first  elements,  by  word  of  mouth." 
See  Luke  i.  4.    Acts  xviii.  25.    Gal  vi-  6.  (Greek.) 

3  Exod.  xii.  26.  4  Eph.  vi.  4. 

S  Gen.    xviii.   19.    Comp.   xiv.    14,  "trained   servants;"    Margin.   "  in- 
structed :''  Hebrew  V3TJH  (Leigh.  Crit.  Sac.)    "  Both  trained  in  the  disci- 
pline of  war,  and  catechized  in  the  principles  of  religion"    See  Scott  on 
the  passage. 
(236) 


DUTY    OF    CATECHIZING.  237 

"  teach''''  God's  words  "  diligently  unto  their  children  ;"  ' — 
if  Solomon  exhorted  his  people  to  "  Train  up  a  child  in  the 
way  he  should  go,"  in  order  that  "  when  he  is  old,  he  may 
not  depart  from  it:"2 — if  the  Jewish  parents  and  doctors 
were  commendably  diligent  in  obeying  this  precept;3 — how 
much  more  should  Christians  do  what  reason  itself  requires, 
and  that  last  command  of  their  Saviour  enjoins,  "  Feed  my 
lambs."4 — Will  not  a  fearful  load  of  "  sin  lie  at  the  door" 
of  the  Church,  if  she  neglects  this  sacred  duty  to  the  souls 
of  those  poor  little  ones  of  Christ's  flock  ;  bringing  them  into 
being  as  Christians,  and  taking  them  into  her  bosom,  only 
to  let  them  perish  with  spiritual  hunger?5  Surely  no  hea- 
vier curse  can  rest  upon  a  Church  than  the  pernicious  doc- 
trine of  Popery  that  all  infants  are  born  again  in  baptism, 
whether  or  not  any  pains  are  taken  to  impress  their  opening 
minds  with  its  solemn  responsibilities,  and  to  teach  them  to 
"  make  their  prayers  unto  God,  that  they  may  lead  the  rest 
of  their  lives  according  to  this  beginning."6 

In  the  ancient  churches  there  was  a  special  officer  ap- 
pointed to  this  ministry,  called  the  Catechist,  whose  duty 
more  especially  was  to  prepare  the  adult  candidates  for  bap- 
tism, by   instructing  them  publicly  during  the  forty  days 

i  Deut.  vi.  7.  Marg.  "  whet"  or  "  sharpen."  Hebrew,  jjb>  "  Oft  go 
over  the  same  thing,  as  a  knife  doth  the  whetstone."    (Leigh.  C.  S.) 

2  Prov.  xxii.  6.    Marg.  "  Catechize."    rpn.     See  above. 

3  See  Luke  ii.  42 — 46,  and  Dr.  Doddridge's  Note.  Also  Lightfoot's  Hor. 
Heb.  in  verse  46.  Compare  also  Rom.  ii.  20.  2  Tim.  iii.  5.  Josephus 
Ant.  1.  4.  c.  8. 

4  John  xxi.  15. 

5  IIos.  iv.  6.  This,  the  reader  will  observe,  is  spoken  in  a  purely  sacra- 
mental sense.  Bucer  remarks  on  the  neglect  of  Catechizing.  "  They 
make  themselves  guilty  of  an  impious  sort  of  child-stealing,  who  having 
consecrated  their  children  to  the  Lord  in  Baptism,  by  neglecting  to  train 
them  up  in  his  service,  do  all  in  their  power  to  rob  him  of  them,  and  make 
them  slaves  to  Satan."     De  Regno  Christ,  ii.  9. 

6  Service  for  Public  Baptism  of  Infants.  "Under  the  darkness  of  Po- 
pery, almost  all  religious  instruction  was  neglected.  '  Very  few,'  to  use  the 
words  of  one  of  our  Homilies,  (xxxiii.  Part  vi,)  '  even  of  the  most  simple 
people,  were  taught  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  Articles  of  the  faith,  and  the 
Ten  Commandments,  otherwise  than  in  Latin,  which  they  understood 
not.'  "    Abp.  Seeker  on  Cat.  (Lect.  i.  p.  7) 


238  HISTORICAL    ACCOUNT. 

of  Lent,  previous  to  their  admission  to  that  ordinance  at 
Easter.1 

The  first  Catechism  of  Edward  VI.  contained  no  more 
than  was  absolutely  necessary  to  prepare  a  child  for  Con- 
firmation;2 namely,  an  explanation  of  the  Baptismal  Cove- 
nant, along  with  the  Belief,  and  Commandments  ; — and  also 
the  Lord's  Prayer,  as  a  guide  and  help  in  seeking  that  grace 
so  needful  for  the  performance  of  the  vows  of  Baptism.  To 
this  was  added  the  explanation  of  the  Sacraments,  in  the 
Prayer  book  of  James  I.3  Altogether  it  forms,  not  a  com- 
plete summary  of  Divine  truth,  much  less  a  system  of 
theology,  but  a  simple  outline  of  doctrine  and  duty,  ex- 
pressed in  such  plain  and  unartificial  language,  as  is  best 
suited  for  the  capacity,  of  that  tender  age  for  which  it  is 
chiefly  designed. 

Viewed  in  another  light,  the  Church  Catechism  contains 
a  short  and  comprehensive  statement  of  the  way  of  salva- 
tion, for  fallen  sinners,  through  Jesus  Christ ;  and  a  scrip- 
tural confession  of  faith  in  Him.  It  may  be  considered  as 
consisting  of  three  parts,  the  subjects  of  which  are  as  fol- 
lows : — 

"  1.  The  union  of  true  believers  with  Christ,  and  their 
adoption  to  be  '  God's  children''  in  this  life,  and  title  to  an 
'  inheritance  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  hereafter.'  All  this 
sealed  to  us  in  Baptism. 

"  2.  The  baptismal  vote,  which  is  a  solemn  profession  of 

i  See  Cyril,  "Catechesis  ;"  and  Augustine,  "De  Catechizandis  ru- 
dibus." 

2  It  was  included  in  the  "Confirmation"  office.  See  Liturgies  of  Ed- 
ward VI.,  Parker  Soc.  Edit  p.  120.  A  Second  "  Short  Catechism''  was 
published  with  authority,  in  1552  and  1553 — usually  attributed  to  Bishop 
Poinet ;  and  a  larger,  1570,  by  Dean  Nowell.  '  Luther,  in  the  beginning 
of  the  Reformation,  wrote  two  Catechisms.  He  assures  us,  that  catechiz- 
ing afforded  him  more  delight  than  any  other  ministerial  duty.  The  samo 
care  was  taken  by  Calvin,  and  other  eminent  Reformers  abroad.  Nothing 
contributed  more  to  the  enlargement  of  the  Protestant  faith,  than  the 
diligent  catechizing  of  the  Protestant  Divines."  Shepherd's  Elucidation  of 
the  Service,  &c. 

3  "  Penned  by  Bp.  Overall,  then  Dean  of  St.  Paul's,  and  allowed  by  the 
Bishops."     Wheatley. 


4 


SUMMARY    OF    CATECHISM.  239 

faith  in  God  through  Jesus  Christ,  wrought  by  the  opera 
tion  of  the  Holy  Ghost,1  of  their  renouncing  the  devil,  the 
world,  and   the  Jlesh;  and  of  their  obligation  and  purpose 
to  keep  God's  holy  will  and  commandments,  and  to  walk  in 
the  same  all  the  days  of  their  life. 

"3.  Prayer  and  the  sacraments:  the  former,  for  con- 
firming this  faith  in  us;  the  latter,  for  assuring  to  us  the 
promises  of  God  in  Christ  upon  such  our  faith,  as  also  for 
building  us  up  therein?"  2 

The  Catechism  considers  man  as  a  fallen  lost  sinner,  and, 
therefore,  in  need  of  salvation  by  Christ;  and  it  teaches  us 
that  the  only  way  of  obtaining  and  securing  an  interest  in 
that  Redemption  which  He  has  purchased  for  us,  is  a  true 
and  living  faith  in  Him ;  namely,  such  as  engages  us 
wholly  to  renounce  sin,  and  cheerfully  to  follow  Christ. 

The  second  answer  sets  forth  in  a  clear  and  compre- 
hensive manner,  the  privileges  sealed  to  us  in  baptism. 
"  Wherein  I  was  made  a  member  of  Christ,3  the  child  of 
God,4  and  an  inheritor  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven."5  These 
blessings  are,  indeed,  properly  and  truly  our's  only  by 
saving  faith,  which,  uniting  us  to  Christ,  makes  us  the  chil- 
dren of  God,  and  the  heirs  of  eternal  glory.6  But  they  may 
be  said  to  be  ours  sacramentally ,  by  the  right  of  our  Chris- 
tian Baptism ;  even  as  immunities  are  secured  to  a  corpo- 
rate body  by  a  charter,  which  has  long  been  lost  sight  of 
and  forgotten ;  and  property  by  a  bank  note,  to  one  who 
cannot  read  it,  and  is  ignorant  of  its  value.  The  citizen 
can  maintain  his  chartered  privileges  by  the  former,  as  soon 
as  it  can  be  produced  ;  and  the  owner  of  the  latter  has  only 
to  put  in  his  claim  for  the  sum  promised  in  order  to  make  it 
good.7 

i  The  writer  is  not  responsible  for  the  inversion  of  the  order  in  this 
passage,  which  is  copied  verbatim  from  Walker. 

2  Walker  of  Truro  on  the  Catechism,  Serm,  i. 

3  Rom.  xii,  5.  1  Cor.  vi.  15 ;  xii.  27.  Gal.  iii.  27,  28.  Eph.  i«  15,  16. 
Col.  li.  19. 

4  Rom.  viii.  14—16.    Gal.  iii.  26  ;  iv.  5—7.     1  John  iii.  1,  2. 

5  Rom.  viii.  17.    Gal.  iii.  29 ;  iv.  1,  7.     1  Pet.  i.  4. 

6  Gal.  iii.  26,  27 ;  iv.  7.    Comp.  John  i.  12. 

7  [Is  not  this  explanation  somewhat  inconsistent  with  what  has  gone 


240  BAPTISMAL    VOW. 

The  Baptismal  Voiv,  having  been  considered  before,  need 
not  now  occupy  our  attention.1  It  teaches  us  what  a  Chris- 
tian ought  to  renounce,  believe,  and  do;  and  must  be  obli- 
gatory upon  all  who  have  been  admitted  into  the  visible 
Church;2  since  without  its  due  performance  no  just  claim 
can  be  laid  to  those  privileges,  which  Baptism  has  sealed  to 
fruitful  faith  only. 

The  Catechumen  is,  therefere,  next  questioned  whether 
he  acknowledges  this  obligation,  and  acquiesces  in  it,  with 
a  full  purpose,  by  God's  grace,  to  fulfil  it.  The  answer 
confirms  the  statement  before  made,  that  the  Catechism  is  a 
solemn  profession  of  faith  in  Christ.  "  Yes,  verily ;  and 
by  God's  help  so  I  will."  The  person  who  makes  this 
reply  must  be  supposed  sensible  of  his  wretched  state  by 
nature,  deeply  conscious  of  our  need  of  regeneration  by 
the  Holy  Spirit,  and  earnestly  desirous  to  embrace  the  Cove- 
nant already  made  in  part,  and  now  offered  to  be  completely 

before;  and  is  it  not  in  itself  unsatisfactory?  Would  it  not  be  justifiable 
here  to  assume  the  ground  which  a  minister,  in  explaining  and  enforcing 
Sponsorial  duties,  took  in  the  following  address.  "In  their  rehearsal  of 
the  formulary,  supplied  you  as  a  help  and  guide  in  preparing  your  offspring 
for  the  renewal  of  their  baptismal  vows,  and  for  their  reception  into  the 
Church  by  the  imposition  of  the  chief  earthly  shepherd's  hands— as  they 
declare  what  they  were  constituted  when  you  brought  them  to  the  waters  of 
baptism:  "  members  of  Christ,  children  of  God,  and  inheritors  of  the  king- 
dom of  heaven" — say,  "Yes;  thus  at  the  font,  our  faithful  and  beloved 
Church — copying  the  Scripture  language,  and  believing  after  prayer  to  God, 
that  the  Spirit  confirmed  the  thing  which  she  then  signed — pronounced  you 
to  be ;  such,  in  confidence  that  all  would  prove  to  be  as  was  then  hoped,  she 
even  now  teaches  you  to  say,  you  then  were  made.  But  alas!  my  children, 
did  the  Spirit  then  accompany  the  sign  and  regenerate  your  souls  ?  What 
corruption  was  exhibited  in  this  or  that  act !  What  disobedience  to  me ! 
What  casting  off  fear  and  restraining  prayer  before  our  God!  Come, 
kneel  with  me;  and  let  us  pray  our  merciful  Father,  for  His  Son's  sake,  to 
do  for  you  now  that,  which  in  vain  the  Church  prayed  and  believed  her 
Head  had  done  for  you,  when  she  received  you  to  her  arms — forgive  your 
sins,  regenerate  your  soul,  and  take  you  as  his  child."] 

1  See  pp.  201—204. 

2  "What  did  your  God-fathers  and  God-mothers  then  for  you?"  They 
promised  for  you,  because  unable  to  answer  for  yourself, — not  what  you 
were  then  to  do, — nor  what  they  could  do  for  you, — but  what  you  should 
do  hereafter,  when  grown  up,  and  what  you  should  persevere  in  doing  ail 
your  days. 


PROFESSION    OF    FAITH.  241 

ratified.  But  knowing  the  difficulties  in  the  way,  the  cor- 
ruption of  nature,  the  insufficiency  of  our  own  resolutions, 
and  the  consequent  need  of  Divine  grace,  he  adds — "  By 
God's  help."  [  And  then  giving  a  hearty  assent  to  the  holy 
agreement  thus  made  in  his  behalf,  confirms  it  by  a  cordial 
"  So  I  will."  Thus  he  "  subscribes  with  his  hand  "2  as  it 
were,  and  "joins  himself  to  the  Lord  in  an  everlasting 
covenant  not  to  be  forgotten."3  Then  follows  a  joyful 
ascription  of  praise  to  God  for  calling  him  to  this  "  state  of 
salvation  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour ;"  not  a  merely 
outward  call 4  we  may  conclude  from  the  context,  but  an 
inward,  effectual  call  of  saving  grace,5  offered  and  embraced. 
And,  as  the  same  power  which  gave,  must  sustain  life  in  the 
soul ; 6  he  concludes,  "  I  pray  unto  God  to  give  me  his 
grace,  that  I  may  continue  in  the  same  unto  my  life's  end."T 

This  surely  is  the  language  of  saving  faith,  "  the  faith  of 
God's  elect  ;" 8  which  is  described  in  Scripture  by  various 
terms,  such  as  "  looking  unto,"  9  "  coming  to,"  10  "  receiv- 
ing," "  "  trusting  in,"  l2  and  "  waiting  for  "  13  God  in  Christ, 
as  our  "  strength,"  14  our  salvation,"  ls  our  "  refuge,"  16  our 
«  portion,"  17  our  "  all  in  all."  18 

The  Apostle's  Creed  has  already  been  under  our  review.19 
It  is  a  "  form  of  sound  words,"  20  (probably  similar  to  that 
which  St.  Paul  delivered  to  Timothy,)  containing  the  most 
important  facts  in  the  testimony  of  Scripture;  ^11  of  which 
we  are  alike  bound  to  believe,  as  "  written  for  our  learn- 
ing," 2I  for  "  all  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God." 22 
But,  as  we  cannot  repeat  the  whole  of  our  Bible,  and  as  it 

i  1  Cor.  xv.  10.    2  Cor.  iii.  5 ;  xii.  9.    Fhil.  ii.  13 ;  iv.  13. 

2  Isa.  xl,  5.  3  Jer.  1.  5.  *  Matt.  xx.  16.     Gal.  i.  6. 

J  2  Tim.  i.  9.    2  Pet.  i.  10.  6  Phil.  i.  6.     Heb.  xii.  2.     \  Pet.  i.  5. 

Jude  24.  7  Acts  xx.  32.    Rom.  v.  2.    Heb.  iii.  14;  iv.  16. 

8  Tit.  i.  1.    2  Pet.  i.  1.  9  Isa.  xlv.  22.    Heb.  xii.  2. 

i  o  Matt.  xi.  28.    John  vi.  35,  37,  44.     1  Pet.  ii.  4. 

1 1  John  i.  12.    Col.  ii.  6.  1  2  lsa.  xxvi.  3,  4.     Eph.  i.  12. 

i  3  Isa.  lxiv.  4.    Lam.  v,  25,  26.     Gal.  v.  5.  i  4  Exod.  xv.  2.  with 

Isa.   xii.  2.     Ps.  cxl.  7.  is   Psa.   xxv.  5.    Isa.   xii.  2.    Mic.   vii.  7. 

Hab.  iii.  18.  1 6  Deut.  xxxiii.  27.    Psa.  xlvi.  1.    Heb.  vi.  18. 

i  1  Psa.  cxlii.  5.    Lam.  iii.  24.        1 8  Col.  iii.  11.        19  See  pp.  50—52. 

20  2  Tim.  l.  13, 14.  21  Rom.  xv.  4.  22  2  ^im.  iii.  16. 

21 


242  FAITH. 

is  plainly  insufficient  to  say  we  believe  the  whole  of  it,  when 
possibly  we  might  be  entirely  ignorant  of  its  contents ;  the 
Church  (as  a  careful  mother,  taking  the  cream  of  the  Bible 
for  the  nourishment  of  her  children,)  has  supplied  us  with 
twelve  "  Articles  of  our  belief,"  which  we  do  well  ever  to 
keep  in  mind,  that  by  "  inwardly  digesting  them,"  we  may 
be  "  made  wise  unto  salvation  through  faith  in  Christ 
Jesus."  ' 

Faith  is  as  essential  a  condition  of  our  being  as  Chris- 
tians, as  sensation  is  of  animals,  or  reason  of  man.  Simply 
defined,  it  is  assent  to  the  testimony  of  God,  respecting 
things  of  a  divine  nature,  and  which  can  only  be  known  by 
revelation.  Such,  in  an  especial  manner,  is  the  doctrine  of 
the  Divine  existence  of  Three  Persons  in  One  God,  as 
taught  by  the  Creed,  and  more  fully  declared  in  the  Cate- 
chism. 

"  First,  I  learn  to  believe  in  God  the  Father,  who  hath 
made  me,  and  all  the  world ; 

Secondly,  in  God  the  Son,  who  hath  redeemed  me,  and 
all  mankind ; 

"  Thirdly,  in  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  sanctifieth  me, 
and  all  the  people  of  God."2 

Here,  again,  we  see  the  personal  character  of  the  Con- 
fession made  in  this  Catechism.  Redemption,  indeed,  is  an 
universal  gift ; 3  but  sanctification  belongs  exclusively  to  the 
"people  of  God,"4  of  whom  the  person  catechised  here 
expresses  a  persuasion  that  he  is  one. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  perpetual  obligation  of  the 
Ten  Commandments  (which  are  an  abstract  of  the  Moral 
Law  of  God,)  as  a  rule  of  life,  is  taught  by  our  Church  ;5 
which  here  presents  us  with  an  useful  summary  of  them, 
after  the  pattern  of  those  Divine  rules,  "  Thou  shalt  love 
the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  &c,"  and  "  Thou 

1  2  Tim.  iii.  15. 

2  For  the  proof  of  the  Divinity  of  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  see  p.  150 
■>  John  i.  29 ;  iii.  16.    1  Tim.  ii.  6.    2  Pet.  ii.  1.     1  John  ii.  1,  2. 

*  2  Thess.  ii.  13.     1  Pet.  i.  2. 

s  See  p.  164.    Comp.  Matt.  v.  17—19.    Rom.  iii-  31.    Eph.  vi.  2,  3. 


THE    COMMANDMENTS.  243 

shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself."  '  We  shall  find  it  an 
excellent  model  for  self-examination,  and  it  may,  with 
advantage,  be  turned  into  a  prayer  (as  in  the  Communion 
Service,) — "  Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us,  and  write  all  these 
thy  laws  in  our  hearts,  we  beseech  Thee."  If  these  laws 
be  taken  in  all  their  breadth  and  ramifications,  as  our  Lord 
teaches  us  to  understand  them,2  not  only  in  what  they 
express,  but  what  they  must  be  supposed  to  imply  ;  we  shall 
find  that  there  is  no  duty  to  God  or  our  neighbour  which 
they  do  not  enjoin,  no  sin  the  prohibition  of  which  they  do 
not  virtually  include.3 

How  important  it  is  to  keep  in  mind  the  obligation  of  the 
Divine  law  as  a  rule  of  duty,  is  manifest  from  the  errors 
of  Papists  and  Antinomians,  who  reject  what  parts  they 
please,  and  so  satisfy  themselves  with  vain  delusions,  and 
"  refuges  of  lies."4  In  this  point  of  view  the  Fourth  Com- 
mandment is  peculiarly  precious,  the  morality  of  which  has 
already  been  considered.5  On  the  other  hand,  let  us  beware 
of  a  self-righteous  or  formal  obedience  ;  the  "  yoke  of  bond- 


i  Matt.  xxii.  37—40.    Luke  x.  27.    Comp.  Deut.  vi.  5.  Lev.  xix.  18. 

2  Matt.  v.  21 — 37,  "fulfil,"  i:\ripaxjat — "  carry  out  fully ;"  or,  (as  Vitringa 
takes  it)  "  to  paraphrase,"  and  "  expound."  Comp.  Psa.  cxix.  96.  Rom.  vii. 
7,  13;  xiii.  8— 10. 

3  "  To  comprehend  their  full  extent,  it  will  be  requisite  to  observe  the  fol- 
lowing rules.  Where  any  sin  is  forbidden  in  them,  the  opposite  duty  is  im- 
plicitly enjoined." — "Where  the  highest  degree  of  anything  evil  is  pro- 
hibited ;  whatever  is  faulty  in  the  same  kind>  though  in  a  lower  degree,  is 
by  consequence  prohibited." — "  What  we  are  expected  to  abstain  from,  we 
are  expected  to  avoid  all  temptations  to  it,''  &c.  Abp.  Seeker's  18th  Lect. 
on  Cat.  p  148.  4  Isa.  xxviii.  15,  17. 

5  See  pp.  106 — 109.  If  the  excellent  summary  of  our  "  Duty  towards  God" 
admits  of  improvement;  it  seems  to  be  by  a  more  distinct  allusion  to  the 
Second  and  Fourth  Commandments.  The  Catechism  of  1553  thus  sums  up 
the  "  Laws  of  the  First  Table"  "  The  Lord  God  hath  charged  us,  that  we 
take  him  alone  for  our  one  only  God,  our  Maker,  and  Saviour ;  that  we 
reverence  not,  nor  worship  any  portraiture  or  any  image  whatsoever, 
whether  it  be  painted,  carved,  &c,  that  we  take  not  the  name  of  our  Lord 
God  in  vain;  that  is,  either  in  a  matter  of  no  weight,  or  of  no  truth.  Last 
of  all,  this  ought  we  to  hold  steadfastly  and  with  devout  conscience,  that 
we  keep  holily  and  religiously  the  sabbath-day :  which  was  appointed  out 
from  the  others  for  rest  and  service  of  God."  Liturg  of  Edw.  VI.  Parker 
Soc  Ed.  497.    See  also  p.  515. 


« 


244  DANGER    OF    ANTINOMIANISM. 

age,"  '  instead  of  the  M  easy  yoke  "  2  of  Christ, — the  "  law 
of  liberty,"  3 — "  faith  working  by  love,"* — as  David  says — 
"  I  will  run  the  way  of  thy  commandments,  when  thou  shalt 
enlarge  my  heart" 5 

The  Lord's  Prayer  meets  us  again  like  the  face  of  a 
familiar  friend,  whose  coming  is  always  welcome.  Never 
can  it  be  more  seasonable  than  at  present,  when  we  have 
been  considering  the  solemn  obligation  of  our  baptismal 
vows.  How  shall  the  fallen  sinner — man,  believe  all  God's 
truth,  and  keep  all  His  commandments  ?  It  can  never  be 
of  his  own  power  or  ability.  The  Catechism  teaches  us  to 
acknowledge  this.  "  Thou  art  not  able  to  do  these  things  of 
thyself,6  nor  to  walk  in  the  commandments  of  God,  and  to 
serve  him  without  his  special  grace;''  which  thou  must 
learn  at  all  times  to  call  for  by  diligent  prayer." 8  This 
conviction,  probably,  led  the  Disciples  to  offer  up  that 
request,  "  Lord,  teach  us  to  pray ;" '9  which  He,  who  never 
refused  such  a  petition,  so  fully  and  graciously  answered.10 

The  Lord's  Prayer  is  followed  by  an  excellent  summary 
of  its  seven  Petitions,"  which  also  supplies  the  defect  which 
necessarily  renders  this  Divine  model,  as  it  stands  in  the 

i  Gal  v.  1.  2  Matt.  xi.  29,  30. 

3  James  ii-  12.  4  Gal.  v.  6. 

s  Psa.  cxix.  32.  Prayer-book  Version,  "When  thou  hast  set  my  heart  at 
liberty  "    See  aiso  verse  45. 

6  John  xv.  5.    2  Cor.  iii.  5.     Phil.  ii.  13. 

7  1  Cor.  xv.  10.    2  Cor.  ix.  8;  xii.  9.    Phil.  iv.  13. 

8  Ps.  cxix.  25,  32—36.  Matt.  vii.  7,  8.  Eph.  vi.  18.  1  Thess.  v.  17. 
lleb.  iv.  16.  9  Luke  xi.  1—4. 

I  o  It  has  been  supposed  by  some  that  the  Lord's  Prayer  was  taken  from 
ancient  Jewish  Liturgies;  (Home's  Introd.  Vol.  iii.  p.  296.  Lightfoots 
Hor.  Heb.  on  Matt,  vi.)  and,  doubtless,  several  petitions  of  a  similar  cha- 
racter, have  been  gleaned  out  of  the  Rabbinical  writings.  But  when  we 
consider  how  much  more  probable  it  is  that  the  Jews  should  have  borrowed 
some  of  the  expressions  from  Christians,  and  drawn  others  out  of  the  com- 
mon fountain  of  the  Old  Testament,  than  that  our  Blessed  Lord  should 
have  compiled  his  Prayer  out  of  such  corrupt  sources; — we  cannot  but 
agree  with  the  learned  Dr.  Owen,  that  this  opinion  is  not  deserving  of  much 
attention.    See  Theologoumena,  1.  v.  dig.  iv.  17,  p.  455 — 457. 

I I  There  are  usually  reckoned  only  six,  but  it  seems  better  to  divide  the 
last  petition  into  two:  thus  we  have  one  for  every  day  in  the  week,  which 
may  suggest  to  us  a  suitable  subject  for  prayer  each  day. 


lord's  prayer.  245 

Bible,  imperfect ;  because  Christ  "  was  not  yet  glorified  "  ' 
as  our  Mediator  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father.  Therefore 
He  said — "Hitherto  have  ye  asked  nothing  in  my  name."2 
And,  therefore,  we  add — "This  I  trust  he  will  do  of  his 
mercy  and  goodness,  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.'''' 

The  two  Sacraments,  having  already  come  under  our 
consideration,  will  require  a  briefer  notice  at  present.  The 
Church  here  defines  a  sacrament  to  be  "  An  outward  and 
visible  sign  of  an  inward  and  spiritual  grace  given  unto  us, 
ordained  by  Christ  himself,  as  a  means  whereby  we  receive 
the  same,  and  a  pledge  to  assure  us  thereof."3  This  defi- 
nition at  once  excludes  the  five  Popish  Sacraments,  of 
Confirmation,  Penance,  Orders,  Matrimony,  and  Extreme 
Unction;  which  are  "such  as  have  grown  partly  of  the 
corrupt  following  of  the  Apostles,  partly  are  states  of  life 
allowed  in  the  Scriptures."  4  When  the  two  "  Sacraments 
of  the  Gospel,"  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  are  said  to 
be  "  generally  necessary  to  salvation ;"  we  must  under- 
stand, not  that  they  are  universally,  or  in  all  cases  neces- 
sary, (for  then  none  could  be  saved  without  them;)  but 
only  that,  as  a  ge?ieral  rule,  (admitting  of  exceptions,)  they 
cannot  be  safely  dispensed  with  by  any  class  of  persons ; 

1  John  vii.  39. 

2  John  xvi.  24.    Comp.  verse  23 ;  also  xiv.  6.    Eph.  ii.  18.    2  Cor.  i.  20. 

3  So  in  the  xxvth  Article.  "  Sacraments  ordained  of  Christ  be  not  only 
badges  or  tokens  of  Christian  men's  profession,  but  rather  they  be  certain 
sure  witnesses,  and  effectual  signs  of  grace,  and  God's  good  will  toward  us, 
by  the  which  he  doth  work  invisibly  in  us,  and  doth  not  only  quicken,  but 
also  strengthen  and  confirm  our  faith  in  him."  "  In  such  only  as  worthily 
receive  the  same,  they  have  a  wholesome  effect  or  operation;  but  they  that 
receive  them  unworthily  purchase  to  themselves  damnation,  as  Saint  Paul 
saith.''  In  substantial  agreement  with  these  statements,  the  Westminster 
Catechism,  the  standard  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  declares  that,  "  A 
Sacrament  is  an  holy  ordinance,  instituted  by  Christ,  wherein,  by  sensible 
signs,  Christ  and  the  benefits  of  the  New  Covenant  are  represented,  sealed, 
and  applied  to  believers." 

*  Art.  xxv.  The  word  "  Sacrament  urn,"  properly  signifies  any  sacred 
thing,  and  so  it  was  frequently  used  by  the  old  Latin  Fathers.  In  classic 
writers  it  signifies  either  a  sum  of  money  deposited  by  both  parties  in  a  law 
suit,  {sponsionis  pignus)  as  a  pledge  of  appearance  at  the  trial,  and  a  stake 
to  be  forfeited  by  the  loser  of  the  cause; — or  an  oath,  taken  by  soldiers,  of 
faithfulness  to  their  commander. 

21* 


'-M6  Till:    SACHAMENTS. 

whereas  the  other  sacred  rites,  which  Popery  has  miscalled 
Sacraments,  are  either  wholly  superstitious  innovations,  or 
divine  ordinances  of  particular  and  limited  application. 

We  have  already  shown  that  both  the  Sacraments  are 
"  ordinances  of  Christ"  of  perpetual  authority  in  his  Church, 
and  "  means  of  grace"  to  those  who  rightly  receive  them. 
The  following  Questions  and  Answers  on  "  the  Use  of  the 
Sacraments,"  may  tend  to  illustrate  their  character  as 
"  visible  signs  "  and  "  pledges  of  spiritual  grace  "  to  all  true 
Christians. 

"  Q.  Do  the  sacraments  serve  to  this  end  ?  (to  draw  men 
unto  God.)  A.  Yea,  verily  ;  that  by  sight,  touch,  taste, 
and  feeling,  as  well  as  hearing,  we  might  be  instructed, 
assured,  and  brought  to  obedience. 

"  Q.  How  doth  baptism  serve  hereunto  ?  A.  It  teacheth 
us  to  put  on  Christ,  that  with  his  righteousness  our  sinful- 
ness may  be  hidden ;  it  assures  us  that  we  are  so  grafted 
into  Christ,  that  all  our  sins  by  him  are  washed  away  ;  it 
chargeth  us  to  die  to  sin,  to  continue  in  the  profession  of 
Christ,  and  to  love  each  other. 

"  Q.  Hath  the  Lord's  Supper  also  this  use?  A.  Yea, 
doubtless  ;  for  it  teacheth  that  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ 
crucified  is  the  only  food  of  the  new-born  children  of  God ; 
it  assureth  that  Christ  is  wholly  theirs  to  give  and  continue 
life  spiritual  and  heavenly  to  body  and  soul,  to  nourish, 
strengthen,  refresh,  and  to  make  cheerful  the  hearts  of  the 
elect ;  it  requireth  thankful  remembrance  of  the  death  of 
Christ,  unity  among  those  that  do  profess  him,  with  free 
confession  of  his  truth."  ' 

Before  we  close  this  brief  review  of  the  Church  Catechism, 
it  will  be  right  to  meet  an  objection  whicn  probably  will  re- 
cur to  the  minds  of  some  of  our  readers.  If  the  above  is 
the  correct  view  to  be  taken  of  the  Catechism,  is  it  proper  to 
make  children  and  ignorant  persons  commit  it  to  memory, 
and  repeat  it  by  rote,  when  they  can  neither  understand  its 

i  Taken  from  a  Catechism  prefixed  to  the  New  Testament  of  Queen 
Elizabeth's  Bible,  (Barker's)  from  1581  to  1615. 


OlJJKi'TION    ANSWERED.  ~  17 

meaning,  nor  feel  the  force  of  what  they  profess  with  their 
lips  ?  Is  not  this  to  make  hypocrites  of  them,  rather  than 
Christians  1 

This  objection  we  have  already  met ; '  for,  in  fact,  it  lies 
equally,  if  at  all,  against  the  whole  of  our  Church  services, 
which  are  harmoniously  formed  upon  the  principle,  that  a 
spiritual  body  can  recognize  only  spiritual  members.  At 
present,  suffice  it  to  add,  that  this  objection,  if  admitted,  must 
sweep  as  a  scythe  over  the  entire  field  of  Christian  educa- 
tion ;  cutting  down  to  the  roots  all  the  infantile  "  speaking 
to  one  another  in  Psalms  and  Hymns,  and  spiritual  songs;"2 
and  levelling  to  the  ground  the  whole  system  of  Catechetical 
instruction.  For  the  same  sort  of  scruple  would  evidently 
deter  us  from  all  teaching  of  children  to  repeat  what  they 
are  unable  to  utter  "in  spirit,  and  in  truth."3  Even  the 
Lord's  Prayer  itself  must,  on  this  principle,  be  laid  aside. 

Very  different  is  the  view  with  which  the  Church  as  a 
faithful  mother,  a  "  teacher  of  babes,"4  would  have  her  little 
ones  learn  to  lisp  the  saving  name  of  Jesus,  in  their  child- 
like simplicity,  long  before  they  can  reasonably  be  expected 
to  know  its  preciousness.  The  profession  which  she  re- 
quires us  to  make  is  no  more  than  reason,  religion,  self-in- 
terest, and  the  ties  of  Christian  parentage,  and  Baptismal 
dedication,  alike  demand  at  our  hands.  If  we  cannot  ren- 
der it  with  sincerity,  it  is  not  our  misfortune,  but  our  sin. 
This  our  Catechism  teaches  us :  and  the  impression  ought 
to  be  deepened  on  each  tender  mind,  that  every  baptized 
person,  who  is  not  also  a  true  Christian,  carries  about  with 
him  the  sign  and  seal  of  his  own  condemnation ;  so  that  if 
he  is  not  a  faithful  "  soldier  and  servant"  of  Christ,  he  must 
be  a  traitor,  a  deserter, — perhaps,  an  awful  apostate  !5 

l  See  pp.  17,  18.         2  Eph.  v.  19.  3  John  iv.  24.         4  Rom  ii.  20. 

s  "  What!  shall  your  names  be  in  the  register  of  Christ,  and  yet  your 
souls  be  in  the  hands  of  the  Devil?  Will  you  carry  his  ensign  in  your 
forehead,  and  yet  fight  against  him  in  his  own  camp?  This  is  not  only 
hostility,  but  treason  ;  and  as  rebels  and  traitors  are  more  severely  dealt 
with  than  enemies,  so  shall  you  be ;  and.  beheve  it,  the  flames  of  hell  burn 
the  more  furiously,  for  your  being  sprinkled  with  baptismal  water." — Bp. 
Hopkins'  Works,  ii.  428. 


218  PUBLIC    CATECHIZING. 

Respecting  the  age  at  which  catechising  should  commence, 
or  the  frequency  of  its  performance,  no  general  rules  can, 
perhaps,  be  laid  down.1  It  should,  however,  be  done  pub- 
licly, as  well  as  in  private;2  in  order  that  through  this  en- 
gaging channel  the  "  hearts  of  the  fathers  may  be  turned  to 
the  children,"3  and  the  sweet  influence  of  early  piety  may, 
by  reflection,  be  diffused  over  the  whole  circle  of  the  congre- 
gation. Thus  "  out  of  the  mouths  of  babes  and  sucklings" 
has  God  often  "perfected  praise."4  And,  although  the 
Catechism  is  especially  designed  as  a  preparative  for  Con- 
firmation, it  is  not  necessarily  to  be  confined  to  those  who 
have  not  received  this  rite.  Even  older  members  of  the  con- 
gregation may  profitably  join  in  the  simple  profession  of 
faith  here  presented  to  us ;  and  others  may  be  reminded  that 
it  is  not  enough  for  us  "  to  have  known  from  childhood  the 
holy  Scriptures,"  unless  we  are  thereby  "  made  wise  unto 
salvation;"5  and  "as  we  have  received  Christ  Jesus  the 
Lord,  so  we  walk  in  him  :  rooted  and  built  up  in  him,  and 
established  in  the  faith,  as  we  have  been  taught,  abounding 
therein  with  thanksgiving."6 

1  The  First  Prayer  book  of  Edward  VI.  requiring  catechising  to  be  done 
only  "once  in  six  weeks  at  the  least;"  the  lixth  Canon  says  it  is  to 
be  "upon  every  Sunday  and  Holy-day;"  while  the  present  Rubric  only 
requires  that  it  shall  be  done  "diligently  upon  Sundays  and  Holy-days." 

'■i  King  Edward's  Prayer-Book,  and  the  Canon  mention  "  half  an  hour 
before  Evening  Prayer,"  for  catechizing  the  young  "openly  in  the  Church." 
The  present  direction  is  "  after  the  Second  Lesson  at  Evening  Prayer." 

3  Mai.  iv.  6.       4  Psalm,  viii.  2.    Comp.  Matt.  xxi.  16.        s  Tim.  iii.  15 

e  Col  G,  7.  See  NowelPs  testimony  on  the  use  of  Catechizing.— 
Appendix. 


APPENDIX. 


"  Parents  and  schoolmasters  did,  in  old  time,  diligently  instruct 
their  children,  (as  soon  as  by  age  they  were  able  to  perceive  and 
understand,)  in  the  first  principles  of  the  Christian  religion  ;  that 
they  might  suck  in  godliness  almost  together  with  the  nurse's 
milk,  and  from  their  very  cradle  might  be  nourished  with  the  ten- 
der food  of  virtue  towards  that  blessed  life.  For  the  which  pur- 
pose also  little  short  books,  which  we  name  Catechisms,  were 
written  ;  wherein  the  same  or  very  like  matters,  as  we  are  now 
in  hand  with,  were  treated  of.  And  after  that  the  children  seemed 
to  be  sufficiently  trained  in  the  first  elements  of  our  religion,  they 
brought  and  offered  them  to  the  Bishop. 

Master.     For  what  purpose  did  they  so  1 

Scholar.  That  children  might  after  baptism  do  the  same,  which 
adults,  who  were  also  called  Catechumens,  did  of  old  before,  or 
rather  at  baptism.  For  the  Bishop  did  require,  and  the  children 
did  render  an  account  of  their  religion  and  faith :  and  such  as 
the  Bishop  judged  to  have  made  sufficient  progress  in  the  know- 
ledge of  religion,  he  allowed,  and  laying  his  hands  upon  them, 
and  blessing  them,  let  them  depart. 

Master.  It  were  to  be  wished  that  the  ancient  manner  of 
examining  chilren,  were  restored. 

Scholar.  Very  much  to  be  wished.  For  so  would  parents  be 
compelled  to  perform  their  duty  in  the  godly  bringing  up  of  their 
children,  which  they  now  for  the  most  part  leave  undone  and 
reject;  which  part  of  their  duty,  if  parents  or  schoolmasters 
would  now  take  in  hand,  do,  and  thoroughly  perform,  there  would 
be  a  marvellous  consent  and  agreement  in  religion  arid  the  Chris- 
tian faith,  now  so  miserably  torn  asunder;  surely  all  would  not 
either  lie  so  shadowed  and  overwhelmed  with  the  darkness  of 
ignorance,  or  with  dissensions  of  diverse  and  contrary  opinions 
be  so  disturbed,  dissolved,  and  dissipated,  as  it  is  at  this  aay." 
Nowell's  Cateehism,  §  xxii.  tr.  from  Latin. 

249 


CHAPTER    IX. 


CONFIRMATION. 


We  have  seen  that  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  has  re- 
jected Confirmation,  as  a  Sacrament,1  while  she  retains  it 
as  a  sacred  rite,  of  Ecclesiastical,  if  not  Apostolic,  authority. 
This  is  a  distinction  which,  obvious  and  important  as  it  is, 
has  not  been  duly  attended  to.2  Its  scriptural  origin  may, 
not  improbably,  be  traced  to  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of 
an  Apostle  on  those  who  had  been  baptized  by  an  inferior 
minister,  with  a  view  to  their  receiving  the  gifts  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.3  For,  although  miraculous  powers  usually  accom- 
panied this  act,  when  performed  by  Apostolic  hands,  it  does 
not  follow  that  this  was  the  only  benefit  sought  for,  or,  in- 
deed, that  it  was  universally  obtained.4  Thus  the  function 
continued  to  be  exercised  by  the  heads  of  the  Church,  even 
after  the  age  of  miracles  had  passed  away ;  and  has  come 
down,  without  interruption,  to  our  own  times.5 

In  the  early  ages  of  the  Church,  converts  to  Christianity 
used   generally  to  be  confirmed   soon  after  their  Baptism.0 

i  See  p.  245.  2  See  Appendix  A. 

3  Acts  viii.  12 — 17.    Compare  xix.  5,  6. 

•*  We  may  add  with  Bishop  Sparrow,  "  signa  erant  tempori  oppor- 
tuna."  "  In  the  beginning,  outward  signs  appeared  to  confirm  the  new 
preached  faith ;  but  now  we  receive  those  inward  graces  and  virtues  which 
were  signified  and  demonstrated  by  those  signs."  Chrysost.  in  Matt.  Horn. 
13,  so  Aug.  De  Peccat.  merit,  L  ii.xxxii.  "  Faith  put  forth  its  first  shoots 
nursed  by  the  milk  of  visible  elements,  that  from  that  tender  state  it  might 
be  knit  together  into  its  strength." 

s  See  Tertuliian  de  Baptismo,  c.  7.  De  Resur.  Cam.  c.  8.  Cyprian 
Tract  ad  Donat.  c.  2,  and  Epist  73,  and  Jerome  adv.  Lucifer,  in  Hooker 's 
Ecc.  Pol.  v.  66. 

6  Hooker,  Ecc  Pol.  v.  68. 
(250) 


ITS    USE.  251 

This  custom  probably  led  the  way  to  the  ancient  practice  of 
administering  this  rite,  along  with  the  Lord's  Supper,  to  in- 
fants, at  their  Baptism ; '  thus,  in  a  great  measure,  destroy- 
ing its  use,  and  reducing  it  to  an  empty  sign,  and  supersti- 
tious ceremonial.  Our  Church,  at  the  Reformation,  restored 
it  to  its  original  design ;  namely,  that  of  "  Confirming  the 
souls  of  the  disciples,  and  exhorting  them  to  continue  in  the 
faith;"2  thus  girding  the  armour  of  the  Gospel,  as  it  were, 
on  her  young  recruits,  and  cheering  them  on  in  their  spi- 
ritual warfare,  to  "  endure  hardness  as  good  soldiers  of 
Christ  Jesus,"  3  so  that,  though  it  be  "  through  much  tribu- 
lation, they  may  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God."4  The 
intention  of  the  Reformed  Church  herein  was,  to  supply  that 
personal  profession  of  repentance,  faith,  and  obedience,  which 
was  necessarily  wanting  in  Infant  Baptism ;  "  that,"  (as  the 
Preface  to  this  Service  declares,)  "  children,  being  now  come 
to  the  years  of  discretion,  and  having  learned  what  their 
Godfathers  and  Godmothers  promised  for  them  in  Baptism, 
they  may  themselves,  with  their  own  mouth  and  consent, 
openly  before  the  Church,  ratify  and  confirm  the  same ;  and 
also  promise,  that  by  the  grace  of  God  they  will  evermore 
endeavour  themselves  faithfully  to  observe  such  things,  as 
they  by  their  own  confession  have  assented  unto:"5     This 

1  Bingham's  Antiq.  vol.  4,  p.  368,  &c.  "Instead  of  this  most  profitable 
and  ancient  Confirmation,  they  substituted  an  invention  of  their  own,  that 
is,  not  that  the  Bishop  should  examine  children  whether  they  were  skilled 
in  the  precepts  of  religion  or  no ;  but  that  they  should  anoint  with  oil  in- 
fants yet  unable  to  speak,  much  less  to  give  any  account  of  their  faith ; 
adding  also  other  ceremonies  unknown  to  Holy  Scripture  and  the  ancient 
Church.'' — Dean  Nowell's  Catechism. 

2  Acts  xiv.  22.  3  2  Tim-  ii.  3-  «  Acts  xiv.  22. 

5  This  Preface  was  originally  part  of  the  Rubric  prefixed  to  the  confir- 
mation office,  of  which  the  remainder  is  as  follows: — "Secondly,  forasmuch 
as  confirmation  is  ministered  to  them  that  be  baptized,  that  by  imposition 
of  hands,  and  prayer,  they  may  receive  strength  and  defence  against  all 
temptations  to  sin,  and  the  assaults  of  the  world,  and  the  devil:  it  is  most 
meet  to  be  ministered  when  children  come  to  that  age,  that  partly  by  the 
frailty  of  their  own  flesh,  partly  by  the  assaults  of  the  world  and  the  devil, 
they  begin  to  be  in  danger  to  fall  into  sin. — Thirdly,  for  that  it  is  agreeable 
with  the  usage  of  the  Church  in  times  past,  whereby  it  was  ordained,  that 
Confirmation  should  be  ministered  to  them  that  were  of  perfect  age,  that 


252  AGE. 

is  to  be  preceded  by  a  Ministerial  trial  of  their  knowledge 
and  understanding  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  calculated  to 
deepen  the  impressions  of  religious  truth,  and  so  lay  a  foun- 
dation for  a  life  of  devotedness  to  the  service  of  God.  To 
this  is  added  the  Episcopal  approval  and  benediction,  ex- 
pressed by  laying  on  of  hands,  with  prayer  for  Divine  grace 
to  "  confirm  their  souls,"  and  make  their  good  resolutions 
effectual.  All  this  being  done  at  an  age,  when  the  passions 
are  strongest,  and  the  reason  and  judgment  weakest  in  pro- 
portion ;  when  temptation  presses  in  upon  the  youthful  mind, 
and  fancy  presents  her  deceitful  baits  to  allure  the  senses 
astray ;  when  the  heart  is  most  susceptible,  and  the  charac- 
ter is  most  readily  moulded,  and  permanently  fixed  for  good 
or  evil ; — ("  For  as  the  twig  is  bent,  the  tree's  inclined.") 
All  this — as  it  proves  the  most  urgent  need  of  such  an  insti- 
tution, affords  the  best  grounds  of  hope  that,  if  rightly  im- 
proved, it  will  not  fail  to  be  of  God  abundantly  owned,  and 
extensively  blessed. 

Confirmation,  thus  restored  to  the  pure  primitive  model, 
has  been  adopted,  as  far  as  their  circumstances  would  ad- 
mit, by  most  of  the  Reformed  Churches.1 

The  proper  age  for  Confirmation  has  been  variously  de- 
termined.2 The  Jews,  it  appears,  were  accustomed  to  bring 
their  children,  at  thirteen  years  of  age,  to  the  house  of  God, 
to  be  publicly  examined  in  their  knowledge  of  the  Law,  and 
engage  themselves,  by  a  solemn  profession  to  keep  its  pre- 
cepts.3 We  find  our  Saviour  at  "  twelve  years  old"  in  the 
Temple,  similarly  engaged. 

This  age  seems  nearly  to  accord  with  the  "  years  of  dis- 

they  being  instructed  in  Christ's  religion  should  openly  profess  their  own 
faith,  and  promise  to  be  obedient  unto  the  will  of  God.'' 

1  See  Appendix  B-;  also  the  Memoir  of  H.  E.  Rauschenbusch,  Pastor  of 
Elberfield,  in  Prussia,  pp.  v.  21,  192,  &c. — (Seeley's.) 

2  "  In  England,  during  the  reign  of  Popery,  children  were  usually  con- 
firmed at  five  years  of  age.  The  Council  of  Trent  appointed  the  time  be- 
tween seven  and  twelve  years.  Another  Council  of  Milan  forbade  the  con- 
firming of  any  under  seven. — Calvin  determined  the  age  of  ten."  Bridges' 
Christian  Ministry,  pp.  538,  539.    Ed.  1830. 

s  Grotius  on  Luke  ii.  42. 


QUALIFICATIONS.  253 

cretion"  marked  by  the  Church  of  England  as  the  proper 
era  of  Confirmation ;  an  era,  however,  which  must  be  ante- 
dated or  postponed  according  to  the  measure  of  qualification 
— natural,  acquired,  and  spiritual — which  is  found  in  each 
individual  candidate.  It  is  not  enough  for  them  to  be  able 
to  understand  the  nature  of  the  transaction,  nor  yet  to  repeat 
the  words  of  the  Catechism  accurately  and  perfectly ;  but 
there  must  also  be  "  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience"1  to 
the  questions  therein  contained,  and  a  sincere  desire  and 
purpose,  by  God's  grace,  to  give  themselves  to  the  Lord ; 
and  seal  the  Covenant  made  for  them  in  Baptism  by  their 
own  act  and  deed.  Where  this  "  preparation  of  the  heart"2 
is  found,  we  need  not  greatly  apprehend  that  any  young 
person  comes  forward  too  early ;  where  it  is  palpably 
wanting,  we  agree  with  Archbishop  Seeker,3  that  confirma- 
tion ought  by  all  means  to  be  deferred ;  as  no  blessing  can 
be  looked  for  upon  such  an  "  empty  outward  performance 
of  a  religious  rite,  from  which,  if  they  had  been  withheld  till 
they  were  duly  qualified,  their  souls  might  have  been 
affected,  and  their  conduct  influenced  by  it,  as  long  as  they 
lived."4 

But  to  proceed  with  the  service  before  us.  The  Preface, 
already  considered,  having  been  read,  the  Bishop  asks  of 
each  person  to  be  confirmed,  whether  they  do,  "  in  the 
presence  of  God,  and  the  Congregation,  renew  the  solemn 
promise  and  vow  made  for  them  at  their  Baptism  ;  ratifying 

i  1  Peter  iii.  21.  2  prov.  xvi.  1. 

3  Sermon  on  Confirmation.  On  the  important  subject  of  preparatory 
instructions  and  trials,  see  Bridges'  Christian  Ministry,  5th  Ed.  pp.  433 — 
431,  where  the  reader  will  find  some  valuable  and  interesting  suggestions, 
the  result  of  careful  observation,  and  successful  experiment. 

4  Of  the  Rev.  T.  Robinson  of  Leicester,  it  is  observed  by  his  biographer, 
that  "  his  confirmation  season  was  one  he  particularly  valued,  and  had 
reason  to  esteem  as  his  choicest  seed-time."  Doubtless  many  other  faith- 
ful ministers  of  Christ,  according  to  their  measure,  could  bear  the  same 
testimony.  Of  Pastor  Gelshom,  the  predecessor  of  Rauschenbusch,  it  is 
stated,  that  "  his  confirmations  especially  were  solemn  and  blessed." — 
Memoir  of  Rauschenbusch,  p.  192.  See  also  pp.  223—227.  Much  instruc- 
tion will  be  found  in  the  Memoir  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bedell  of  Philadelphia, 
(Seeley,  1835)  pp.  H3— 157. 

22 


254  THE    SERVICE. 

and  confirming  the  same  in  their  own  persons,  and  ac- 
knowledging themselves  bound  to  believe  and  do  all  those 
things  which  their  Godfathers  and  Godmothers  then  under- 
took for  them  ?"  What  a  comprehensive  engagement  have 
we  here  !  How  serious  and  solemn  the  act  by  which  we 
bind  ourselves  to  perform  it ;  and  that,  not  for  a  short  time 
only,  but  to  the  end  of  our  lives!  Let  the  youthful  candi- 
date pause,  and  lift  up  his  heart  to  God  in  prayer  for  all- 
sufficient  grace,  before  he  sets  his  seal  to  the  Covenant  by 
the  answer — "  I  do." '  How  suitable,  then,  are  the  re- 
sponses which  follow,  expressive  of  dependence,  not  on  our 
own  resolutions,  but  on  Divine  strength.  "  Our  help  is  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord,  who  hath  made  heaven  and  earth."2 
Well  may  we  add,  from  a  sense  of  its  suitability  to  our 
need — "  Blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord-;  henceforth,  world 
without  end."3  And,  lastly,  in  the  confidence  of  earnest 
faith — "  Lord,  hear  our  prayers ;  and  let  our  cry  come  unto 
thee." 4 

The  Bishop,  then,  as  God's  minister,  having  acknow- 
ledged his  grace  bestowed  upon  "  these  his  servants,"  (not 
speaking  absolutely,  and  of  his  own  authority, — but  condi- 
tionally, upon  the  ground  of  their  own  profession  of  sincere 
repentance,  and  faith,  and  obedience — and  sacramentally, 
with  reference  to  their  dedication  to  the  Lord  in  Baptism ;) 
in  "  regenerating  them,5  and  giving  unto  them  forgiveness 
of  all  their  sins;"6  proceeds  to  implore  for  them  the  seven- 
fold gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit,7  in  language  which  is  taken 

i  See  2  Chron.  xxxiv.  30 — 32.  "It  is  a  certain  truth,  call  it  therefore 
often  to  mind,  and  fix  it  in  your  souls,  that  if  breaking  a  solemn  promise 
to  men  be  a  sin;  breaking  that,  which  you  make  thus  deliberately  to  God, 
would  be  unspeakably  a  greater  sin."    Abp.  Seeker  on  Confirmation. 

2  Psalm  exxiv.  8.   Comp.  exxi.  1,  2;  cxlvi.  5,  6.  John  xv.  5.  2  Cor.  iii.  5. 

3  Psalm  cxiii.  2. 

4  Psalm  cii.  2.  The  last  responses,  in  King  Edward's  first  Book,  were, 
"  The  Lord  be  with  you.     And  with  thy  spirit." 

5  John  iii.  5.    Titus  iii.  5. 

6  Eph.  i.  7.    Col.  i.  14;  ii.  13. 

1  Taken  from  Isaiah  xi.  2,  3.  LXX.  and  Vulg.  The  words  "  fear  of  the 
Lord,'?  which  occur  twice  in  our  version,  and  in  the  Hebrew,  being,  in  the 
Greek  translated  by  two  different  phrases,  twrspeia  and  (bo(-ioi  Ocov,  teems  to 


bishop's  blessing.  255 

from  Scripture,  and  has  been  used  on  this  occasion  from 
the  very  earliest  times.1  "  Strengthen  2  them,  we  beseech 
thee,  O  Lord,  with  the  Holy  Ghost  the  Comforter,3  and 
daily  increase  in  them  thy  manifold  gifts  of  grace ;  the 
spirit  of  wisdom  and  understanding,  the  spirit  of  counsel 
and  ghostly  strength,  the  spirit  of  knowledge  and  true  god- 
liness ;  and  fill  them,  O  Lord,  with  the  spirit  of  thy  holy 
fear,4  now  and  for  ever."  The  graces,  here  prayed  for, 
were  predicted  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  therefore  may 
well  be  claimed  for  his  disciples,  who  have  "  put  on  Christ,"5 
are  to  have  "the  same  mind  which  was  in  Him,"6  and 
"  are  renewed  after  his  image."  7 

The  Bishop  now  proceeds  to  the  solemn  "  laying  on  of 
hands,"8  which  is  "a  kind  of  Consecration  ;"9  "a  cere- 
mony which,"  (as  Hooker  observes,)  "  has,  in  all  ages, 
been  in  use,  to  betoken  our  restrained  desires  to  the  party, 
whom  we  present  unto  God  by  prayer."  I0  Thus  Jacob 
blessed  the  two  sons  of  Joseph,"  thus  our  Lord  himself 
blessed  the  little  children  that  were  brought  to  him  for  this 
purpose.12  To  imposition  of  hands  is  added  prayer,13  not  only 
to  obtain  a  blessing  from  Him  who  alone  can  give  it ;  but  to 

have  led  to  the  introduction  of  a  new  idea,  here  rendered  "  true  godliness ;" 
there  being  only  six  graces  mentioned  in  the  original. 

1  In  St;  Ambrose's  time,  nearly  1500  years  ago,  and  in  the  Greek 
Liturgy,  from  which  this  prayer  has  been  copied  almost  verbatim.  See 
Wheatley.     Palmer  says  it  has  been  used  in  our  Church  above  1200  years. 

~  Eph.  iii.  14 — 1G.  This  Prayer  in  the  First  Book,  was  simply,  "  Si-nd 
down  from  heaven  .  .  .  thy  Holy  Ghost  the  Comforter,  wilk  the,"  &c.  The 
ideas  of  "  strengthening''  and  "daily  increasing"  these  Divine  gifts  were 
introduced  into  the  Second  Book.  3  John  xiv.  16,  17. 

4  cjiirXriatt  avrov  Trvcvjia  (pofiov  Btov.  The  LXX  translation  of  nirp 
r\i<yz  jrivim  "And  shall  make  him  of  quick  understanding  in  the  fear  of 
the  Lord."  ■    5  Rom.  xiii.  14.    Gal.  iii.  27. 

6  Phil.  ii.  5.  7  Col-  iii.  10. 

s  Heb.  vi.  2.  Where  laying  on  of  hands"  comes  after  "baptisms;" 
— a  text,  as  Calvin  conceives,  "  fully  sufficient  to  prove  the  Apostolical 
origin  of  Confirmation." 

9  Calvin  on  Acts  xiii.  3.    Comp.  Numbi  viii.  10;  xxvii.  18. 

1  o  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  66. 

l  l  Gen.  xlviii.  14.  1 2  Matt.  xix.  13.    Mark  x.  16. 

1 3  Numb.  vi.  27.    Deut.  x.  8 ;  xxi.  5.    Acts  viii.  15. 


256  THE    BLESSING. 

teach  us  where  to  fix  our  desires  and  expectations,  on  the 
only  fountain  of  all  grace  and  goodness.1  How  interesting 
is  the  scene  now  presented  to  us  ;  the  Bishop  moving  slowly 
along  the  line  of  children  and  young  persons  kneeling  before 
him,  the  flower  of  Christ's  army,  the  hope  of  his  flock,  and 
laying  his  hand  upon  the  head  of  each,  as  he  repeats  these 
impressive  words.  "  Defend,  O  Lord,  this  thy  child  with 
thy  heavenly  grace,  that  he  may  continue  thine  for  ever, 
and  daily  increase  in  thy  Holy  Spirit  more  and'  more,  until 
he  come  unto  thy  everlasting  kingdom." 

This  beautiful  form  of  Prayer  is  very  suitable  for  paren- 
tal benediction  ; 2  and  teaches  us  that  we  are  to  look  for 
protection  from  the  hand  of  the  Almighty  to  keep  us  in  his 
ways,3  and  for  continual  increase  of  grace  from  the  Holy 
Spirit ; 4  for,  without  growth,  there  is  no  assurance  even  of 
life.' 

After  all  have  been  confirmed,  the  Bishop  addresses  them 
with  the  scriptural  salutation — "The  Lord  be  with  you,"6 
to  which  they  reply,  "  And  with  thy  Spirit." 7  Then  the 
whole  congregation,  parents,  sponsors,8  and  children, 
kneeling  down  together,  they  proceed  to  offer  up  the  Lord'* 
Prayer,  now  peculiarly  appropriate.  Then  follows  a  collect 
expressing  our  dependance  upon  God  for  grace  to  enable  us 
"  both  to  will  and  to  do  according  to  His  pleasure  ;" 9  and 


i  James  i.  17.     See  Appendix  C. 

2  A  pious  practice  of  our  godly  forefathers,  which,  if  used  discreetly, 
might,  in  some  cases,  be  adopted  by  us  with  much  spiritual  benefit. 
See  "  Life  of  Nicholas  Ferrar."  Wordsworth  Ecc.  Biog.  vol.  v.  p.  365. 
and  note. 

3  Isaiah  xlix.  2,  Psalm  xvii.  5,8;  xx.  1;  xxxvii.  24.  1  Peter  v.  10, 
Jude  24,  25.  4  Phil.  i.  9—11 ;  iii.  13,  14.     Col.  i.  10.     1  Thess.  iv.  1. 

5  Rev.  ii.  4,  5 ;  iii.  1—3. 
•    s  Ruth  ii.  4.    2  Thess.  iii.  16.    In  King  Edward's  First  Book,  the  Bishop 
said,  "  The  peace  of  the  Lord  abide  with  you."  "  2  Tim.  iv.  22. 

8  The  attendance  of  one  Sponsor  for  each  young  pe'son  to  be  con- 
firmed, is  required  by  the  [English]  Rubrics,  not  only  as  a  witness  of  the 
performance  of  the  Baptismal  vow;  but  also  to  give  solemnity  to  the 
occasion,  to  assist  by  their  prayers,  and  to  remind  themselves  ot  the 
responsibilities  they  have  incurred. 

«   Phil.  ii.  13 


COLLECTS.  257 

our  prayers  for  the  confirmed,  that  they  may  truly  receive 
those  inward  tokens  of  God's  "  favour  and  gracious  good- 
ness," of  which  the  laying  on  of  hands  was  an  outward 
sign.  How  tenderly  affectionate  is  the  language  of  this 
prayer.  "  Let  thy  fatherly  hand  ever  be  over  them  ; '  let 
thy  Holy  Spirit  ever  be  with  them;2  and  so  lead  them  in  the 
knowledge  and  obedience  of  thy  Word,  that  in  the  end  they 
may  obtain  everlasting  life,"  3  &c.  To  this  was  added,  at 
the  Restoration,  another  Collect,  taken  from  the  end  of  the 
Communion  Service ;  which  is  a  prayer  that  God  would 
"  direct,4  sanctify,5  and  govern6  both  our  hearts  and  bodies 
in  the  ways  of  his  laws,  and  the  works  of  his  command- 
ments ;  that  through  his  most  mighty  protection,  we  may 
be  preserved  in  body  and  soul."  The  Bishop  having  pro- 
nounced the  concluding  blessing,  the  service  closes ;  but 
usually  not  without  a  word  of  exhortation  to  the  newly 
confirmed. 

We  should  shrink  from  intruding  upon  the  Preacher's 
office,  but  we  would  accompany  our  young  friends  to  their 
homes,  and  just  drop  a  few  words  of  kind  admonition  into 
the  willing  ear. 

'  Dear  young  people,'  we  would  say,  '  consider  well  the 
importance  of  the  solemn  scene  in  which  you  have  just 
taken  a  part.  We  would  address  to  you  the  words  which 
Moses,  the  Lord's  servant  spake  to  Israel,  describing  the 
nature  of  that  Covenant  which  was  ratified  between  God 
and  his  people.  "  This  day  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  com- 
manded thee  to  do  these  statutes  and  judgments,  thou  shalt 
therefore  keep  and  do  them  xvith  all  thine  heart,  and  with 
all  thy  soul.  Thou  hast  avouched  the  Lord  this  day  to  be 
thy  God,  and  to  walk  in  his  ways,  and  to  keep  his  statutes, 


1  Psalm  ciii.  13.    Zech.  xiii.  7.     Mai.  iii.  17.    John  x.  28,  29. 

2  Luke  xi.  9—13. 

3  Psalm  xxv.  5;  fxxiii.  24;  cxxxix.  24.  Euh-  iii.  11 — 19.  This  Prayer  is 
found  in  the  Pontifical  of  Egbert,  Archbishop  of  York,  in  the  8th  century. 
Palmer. 

4  Jer.  x.  23.     Psalm  cxix.  5.    2  Thess.  iii-  5.  5  1  Thess.  v  23. 
6  Micah  vii.  14.    Marg.  "  rule." 

99  # 


258  ADDRESS. 

and  his  judgments,  and  to  hearken  to  his  voice :  And  the 
Lord  hath  avouched  thee  this  day  to  be  his  peculiar  people, 
as  he  hath  promised  thee,  and  that  thou  shouldst  keep  all 
his  commandments ;  that  thou  mayest  be  a  holy  people  unto 
the  Lord  thy  God." ' 

'  And  have  you  entered  into  such  a  solemn  engagement 
with  an  intention  carelessly  to  neglect  it  or  deliberately  to 
break  it  1  Can  you  go  away  from  your  Confirmation,  to 
the  scenes  of  worldly  gaiety,  and  sinful  pleasure?  Can 
you  mix,  as  others  do,  with  the  thoughtless  and  profane, 
while  the  "  vows"2  of  your  God  are  fresh  upon  your  lips  ? 
God  forbid  !  But  if  you  can  be  so  hardened  in  sin,  and 
blinded  by  Satan,  know  that  the  "  Bishop's  blessing,"  3  which 
some  superstitiously  trust  to,  will  do  nothing  else  but  in- 
crease your  condemnation.  But,  supposing  you  are  in 
earnest  about  your  soul's  salvation,  we  would  address  to 
you  words  of  caution  and  encouragement.  Do  not  think 
that  you  have  done  more  than  entered  upon  the  Christian 
course.  You  have  made  a  beginning.  This  is  well — go 
forward  ;  not  in  your  own  strength,  but  in  the  power  of  all- 
sufficient  grace.  You  are  enlisted  among  the  soldiers  of 
Christ, — "exercise  yourselves"  daily  "unto  godliness."4 
Be  diligent  in  the  use  of  all  the  appointed  means  of  grace. 
Frequent  the  Lord's  Table.6  Be  "  instant  in  prayer."0 
"  Watch  daily  at  Wisdom's  gates,  and  wait  at  the  posts  of 
her  doors."7  Nail  your  ears  to  that  door-post,8  and  give 
yourselves  up  entirely  to  God. 

'  Again,  take  heed  that  you  do  not  "  leave  your  first 
love."  9     Advance  continually  Zionward.     Live  up  to  your 

i  Deut.  xxvi.  16—19.  a  Psalms  Ivi.  12. 

3  "  It  is  too  visible,  that  of  those  multitudes  that  crowd  to  it,  the  Car 
greater  part  come  merely  as  if  they  were  to  receive  the  Bishop's  blessing, 
without  any  sense  of  the  vow  made  by  them,  and  of  their  renewing  their 
baptismal  engagement  in  it."     Bishop  Burnet,  Past.  Care,  c.  8. 

4  1  Tim.  iv.  7. 

5  On  the  importance  of  an  early  participation  in  the  Sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper.  See  Philip  Henry's  Life.  Wordsworth's  Ecc.  Biog.  vol. 
vi.  p.  212,  213.  8  Rom!  xii!  12. 

7  Prov.  viii.  34.  8  Exod.  xxi.  6.  9  Rev.  ii.  4. 


ADDRESS.  259 

privileges,  and  the  Lord's  gracious  promises  made  to  you  in 
Christ.  Remember  that  it  is  written — "  To  him  that  over- 
cometh,  will  I  grant  to  sit  with  me  on  my  throne." '  You 
are  soldiers  of  the  cross — "  by  this  you  shall  conquer."  2 
Be  "  no  more  children,"3  but  "  do  ye  stand  fast  in  the  faith, 
quit  you  like  men,  be  strong."4  "  Finally,  be  strong  in 
the  Lord,  and  in  the  power  of  his  might.  Put  on  the  whole 
armour  of  God,  that  ye  may  be  able  to  stand  against  the 
wiles  of  the  devil."5  Weak  as  you  are  in  yourselves,  while 
you  "  wait  upon  the  Lord,  you  shall  renew  your  strength."6 
"  The  eternal  God  is  your  refuge,7  and  underneath  are  the 
everlasting  arms."  The  Father's  unchangeable  love,8  the 
Redeemer's  inexhaustible  counsel,9  and  the  Holy  Spirit's 
infinite  power  and  virtue,10  being  all  engaged  to  per- 
fect your  salvation.  "  Fie,"  the  Triune  Jehovah,  "  shall 
thrust  out  the  enemy,"  the  threefold  enemy,  "  from  before 
you  ;  and  shall  say,  Destroy  them.''''  "  His  word  is  power 
— "  who  shall  also  confirm  you  unto  the  end,  that  ye  may 
be  blameless  in  the  day  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  For 
"  God  is  faithful ;"  and  His  faithfulness  is  now  engaged  in 
your  behalf,  "  by  whom  ye  were  called  unto  the  fellowship 
of  his  Son,  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.'  "  12 

1  Rev.  iii.  21. 

2  rourtj  viica.    Euseb.  vit.    Constant,  i.  28.  3  Eph.  iv.  14. 

4  1  Cor.  xvi.  13.  5  Eph.  vi.  10—18.  6  Isaiah  xl  31. 

7  ,-uj?p  "  dwelling  place."   "  God  is  their  home,  rest,  and  felicity."    Scott. 
Com.  Psalm  xc.  1. 

8  Jer.  xxxi.  3.    Mai.  iii.  6.     Rom.  xi.  28,  29. 

9  Isaiah  ix.  6.    Col.  ii.  3.  1  o  Eph.  iii.  16,  20.     Col.  i.  29. 

1 1  Deut.  xxxiii.  27.  12  1  Cor.  i.  8, 9.  See  Appendix  D. 


APPENDIX. 


A.     [page  250.] 

The  argument  of  Wheatly  (p.  398 — 403)  respecting  the  Divine 
Institution  of  Confirmation,  (referring  it  to  Christ  himself,)  and 
its  indispensable  necessity  to  convey  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
after  Baptism,  appears  to  the  writer  of  this  treatise,  to  be  as  dan- 
gerous in  its  tendency,  as  it  is  weak  and  inconclusive  in  its  rea- 
soning. If  any  thing  is  proved  by  it,  it  is  the  Popish  doctrine  of 
the  sacramental  character  of  this  rite,  conformably  to  the  clear 
and  forcible  statement  of  Dean  Novvell  on  this  subject.  "  This 
invention  of  theirs  they  would  needs  have  to  be  a  sacrament,  and 
accounted  it  all  but  equal  to  Baptism  ;  yea  some  of  them  pro- 
fessed it  also  before  Baptism.  By  all  means  they  would  that  this 
their  Confirmation  should  be  as  it  were  a  certain  supplement  of 
Baptism,  that  it  should  be  thereby  finished  and  brought  to  perfec- 
tion, as  though  Baptism  else  were  imperfect ,-  and  as  though  chil- 
dren who  in  Baptism  had  already  put  on  Christ,  with  his  benefits, 
without  it  were  but  half  Christians :  than  which  no  greater  injury 
could  be  done  against  the  Divine  Sacrament,  and  against  God 
himself,  and  Christ  our  Saviour,  the  author  of  the  Holy  Sacra- 
ment of  Baptism."     Catechism  §  xxii.  translated  from  the  Latin. 

How  different  is  this  truly  Protestant  plain  speaking  from  the 
flimsy  apologies  of  some  modern  theologians.  The  writer  feels 
constrained  to  bear  his  testimony  against  the  unsoundness  of  the 
above-mentioned  respectable  author,  from  having  repeatedly  no- 
ticed his  leanings  towards  the  superstitions  of  a  semi-Popish 
school,  a  tendency  which,  at  the  present  day,  is  peculiarly  danger- 
ous. A  very  different,  and  much  sounder  view  is  taken  by  Arch- 
bishop Seeker,  (See  Lect.  xxxiv.  on  Catechism,  p.  287.  Sermon 
on  Confirmation  ;  and  Charges,  p.  53;)  and  by  Bp.  Burnel  on  Art. 
xxv.  p.  397,  398. 
26u 


APPENDIX.  261 

B.     [page  252.] 

"The  ancient  Church  of  the  Waldenses  retained  the  substance 
of  it  as  an  Apostolical  institution.  The  most  eminent  lights  of 
the  Reformed  Churches,  (Peter  Martyr,  Rivet,  Peter  des  Moulin, 
&c.)  give  it  the  weight  of  their  authority. — The  Bohemian  (Harm, 
of  Confess,  p.  306)  and  all  the  Lutheran  Churches  allow  the  ordi- 
nance. '  Within  these  few  years  (1741,')  as  Abp.  Seeker  has 
observed,  '  the  Church  of  Geneva  hath  restored  it  in  the  best 
manner  their  form  of  Church  government  will  admit,  and  added 
an  office  for  it  to  their  Liturgy.' "  Christian  Ministry,  by  Rev.  C. 
Bridges,  p.  525. 

The  "  Confession  of  Saxony"  contains  the  following  (Art.  19:) — 
"  In  the  ceremony  of  Confirmation  there  was  a  trial  of  doctrine, 
wherein  every  one  did  rehearse  the  form  of  doctrine,  and  did 
openly  profess  that  they  did  dislike  the  madness  of  the  Heathen, 
and  of  Heretics,  and  that  they  would  be  and  remain  members  of 
the  true  Church,  and  never  forsake  that  true  opinion  which  they 
did  then  profess.  This  custom  was  profitable  to  instruct  men, 
and  to  keep  them  in  the  true  knowledge  of  God.  And  in  our 
Churches,  the  like  things  be  done  in  catechising  the  younger 
sort,"  &c.     Harmony  of  Confessions,  p.  311. 

The  following  interesting  testimony  is  extracted  from  Calvin's 
Institutes  : — 

"  It  was  the  custom  in  times  past,  to  present  the  children  of 
Christians  (who  had  been  baptized  in  their  infancy)  to  the  Bishop ; 
that  they  might  fulfil  that  duty,  which  was  required  of  those  who, 
being  grown  up,  offered  themselves  to  be  baptized.  For  they  sate 
among  the  Catechumens,  until  having  been  well  instructed  in  the 
mysteries  of  the  faith,  they  could  make  a  public  confession  of  faith 
before  the  Bishop  and  the  people.  Then  they  were  examined 
according  to  the  form  of  the  Catechism.  And  that  this  action  (in 
itself  worthy  of  all  honour)  might  have  more  reverence  and  dig- 
nity, imposition  of  hands  was  used ;  and  the  child,  having  been 
publicly  approved,  was  dismissed  with  a  solemn  benediction. 
Which  ceremony  I  commend,  and  could  wish  it  were  restored.' 

"  When  a  child  is  ten  years  old,  let  him  offer  himself  to  the 
Church  to  make  confession  of  his  faith.  Let  him  be  examined 
concerning  every  point,  let  him  make  answer  to  every  point ;  if  he 
be  ignorant  in  any  let  him  be  taught."     Instit.  1.  iv.  c.  xix.  4.  13. 

C.     [page  246.] 

In  the  First  Prayer-Book  of  Edward  VI.  the  ceremonial,  at  this 
point  of  the  service,  was  very  different  from  what  we  find  it  in  the 


262  APPENDIX. 

next  edition,  when  it  was  reduced  to  its  present  simple  form.     In 
that  First  Edition  the  service  proceeded  as  follows : — 

"Minister.  -Sign  them,  O  Lord,  and  mark  them  to  be  thine  for 
ever,  by  the  virtue  of  thy  holy  cross  and  passion.  Confirm  and 
strengthen  them  with  the  inward  unction  of  thy  Holy  Ghost,  mer- 
cifully unto  everlasting  life.     Amen. 

Then  the  Bishop  shall  cross  them  in  the  forehead,  and  lay  his  hand  upon  their 
heads,  saying, 

"N.  I  sign  thee  with  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  lay  my  hand 
upon  thee  :  In  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.     Amen." 

Wheatly  informs  us  that  the  Church  of  Rome  gives  the  person 
confirmed  a  blow  on  the  cheek  instead  of  laying  o?i  of  hands. 

D.     [page  259.] 

The  following  Prayers,  taken  from  Edward  Vlth's  Primer,  seem 
peculiarly  appropriate  for  the  newly-confirmed  Christian : — 

For  Conversion.     Jer.  xxxi. 

O  Lord,  thou  hast  corrected  me,  and  thy  chastening  have  I 
received  as  a  heifer  unaccustomed  to  the  yoke.  Convert  thou 
me,  and  I  shall  be  converted :  for  thou  art  my  Lord  God.  Yea, 
as  soon  as  thou  turnest  me,  I  shall  reform  myself:  and  when  I 
understand  I  shall  smite  upon  my  thigh,  for  verily  I  have  com- 
mitted shameful  things  :  oh  let  my  youth  bear  his  reproof  and 
confusion.     Amen. 

For  Faith. 

Forasmuch  as  nothing  pleaseth  thee,  that  is  done  without  Faith, 
though  it  appear  before  the  blind  world  never  so  beautiful  and 
commendable,  but  is  counted  in  thy  sight  sinful  and  damnable, 
yea,  sin  itself  and  damnation  ;  I  most  humbly  desire  of  thee,  O 
Father,  for  Christ's  sake,  to  breathe  into  my  heart- by  thy  Holy 
Spirit  this  most  precious  and  peculiar  gift  of  Faith,  which  work- 
eth  by  Love  ;  whereby  also  we  are  justified,  and  received  into  thy 
favour :  that  I  truly  believing  in  thee,  and  fully  persuaded  of  the 
truth  of  thy  holy  word,  may  be  made  thy  son  and  inheritor  of  ever- 
lasting glory,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.     Amen. 

For  strength  against  our  spiritual  enemies,  the  devil,  the  world, 
and  the  flesh. 

0  Lord  God,  the  devil  goeth  about  like  a  roaring  lion,  seeking 
whom  he  may  devour;  the  flesh  lusteth  against  the  spirit;  the 


appendix.  263 

world  persuadeth  unto  vanities,  that  we  may  forget  thee  our  Lord 
God,  and  so  for  ever  be  damned.  Thus  are  we  miserably  on 
every  side  beset  and  beseiged  of  cruel  and  restless  enemies,  and 
ready  at  every  moment  to  perish,  if  we  be  not  defended  wi  h  thy 
godly  power  against  their  fury.  I  therefore,  poor  and  wretched 
sinner,  despairing  of  my  own  strength,  which  indeed  is  noihing, 
most  heartily  pray  thee  to  endue  me  with  strength  from  above, 
that  I  may  be  able  through  thy  help,  with  strong  faith  to  resist 
Satan,  with  fervent  pra3'er  to  mortify  the  raging  lusts  of  the  flesh, 
with  continual  meditation  of  thy  holy  law  to  avoid  the  foolish 
vanities  and  transitory  pleasures  of  this  wicked  world ;  that  I, 
through  thy  grace,  being  set  at  liberty  from  the  power  of  these 
my  mortal  enemies,  may  live  and  serve  thee  here  in  true  holiness 
and  righteousness  all  the  days  of  my  life.     Amen. 

For  the  glory  of  heaven. 

The  joys,  O  Lord,  which  thou  hast  prepared  for  them  that  love 
thee,  no  eye  hath  seen,  no  ear  hath  heard,  neither  is  any  heart 
able  to  think.  But  as  the  joys  are  great  and  unspeakable,  so  are 
there  few  that  do  enjoy  them  :  for  strait  is  the  gate,  and  narrow 
is  the  way,  which  leadeth  unto  life,  and  few  there  be  that  find  it. 
Notwithstanding,  O  heavenly  Father,  thou  hast  a  little  flock  to 
whom  it  is  thy  pleasure  to  give  the  glorious  kingdom  of  heaven. 
There  is  a  certain  number  of  sheep  that  hear  thy  voice,  whom 
no  man  is  able  to  pluck  out  of  thy  hand,  which  shall  never  perish, 
to  whom  also  thou  shalt  give  eternal  life.  Make  me,  therefore,  O 
Lord,of  that  number,  whom  thou  from  everlasting  hast  predesti- 
nated to  be  saved,  whose  names  also  are  written  in  the  book  of 
life.  Pluck  me  out  of  the  company  of  the  filthy  goats,  which 
shall  stand  on  thy  left  hand  and  be  damned,  and  place  me  among 
those  thy  sheep,  which  shall  stand  on  thy  right  hand  and  be 
saved.  Grant  me  this,  O  merciful  Father,  for  thy  dear  Son's  sake, 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.    Amen. 


CHAPTER   X. 


MATRIMONY. 


The  holy  state  of  Matrimony,  instituted  of  God  in  Para- 
dise, for  the  good  of  his  unfallen  creature,  man,  has  ever 
been  solemnized  with  sacred  rites  and  ceremonies  by  all 
nations  who  have  retained  any  vestige  of  religious  and 
moral  cultivation.1  The  Christian  Church,  from  an  early 
age,  was  careful  to  add  the  solemn  sanctions  of  Religion  to 
an  institution  which  embraces  the  most  important  interests 
of  human  life;  forming  the  great  bond  of  social  union,  and 
the  foundation  of  our  strongest  domestic  ties.2  For  this 
purpose  she  required  that  the  sacred  knot  should  be  tied  by 
one  of  her  accredited  ministers,  and  the  marriage  solemnized 
publicly ;  due  notice  having  been  given  beforehand  of  the 
intention  of  the  parties,  in  order  to  prevent  any  improper 
connexion,  or  clandestine  design.3 

In  order  to  solemnize  the  minds  of  the  parties,  the  Church 
requires  her  minister  to  begin  the  marriage  service  by 
reminding  them  that  they  are  in    the    presence  of  God,4 

i  "  The  bond  of  wedlock  hath  been  always  more  or  less  esteemed  of  as 
a  thing  religious  and  sacred.  The  title  which  the  very  heathens  them- 
selves do  thereunto  oftentimes  give  is  holy.  (row;  Ispov;  yajtovs*  Dionys. 
Ant.  1.  ii.  c.  25.")    Hooker's  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  73.  (3.) 

2  Ignatius,  the  contemporary  of  St.  John,  thus  writes,  in  an  Epistle  to 
Polycarp:  "It  becomes  both  men  and  women  when  they  marry,  to  make 
the  union  with  the  will  and  direction  (pcra  yyco/^s)  of  the  Bishop,  that  the 
marriage  may  be  according  to  God."  Tertullian,  a  century  later,  expressly 
mentions  the  marriage  "  benediction."  (Ad  Uxor.  1.  ii.  c.  i.)  See  Bing- 
ham's Antiq.  b.  xxxii.  c.  iv.  s.  i. 

3  Tertullian  informs  us  that  "  secret  marriages,  that  is,  such  as  were  not 
publicly  professed  before  the  church,  were  (in  his  time)  in  danger  of  being 
condemned  as  fornication  and  adultery."     De  Pudicit.  c  4. 

4  Prov.  xv.  3.     Acts  x.  33. 

264 


SERVICE.  265 

who  instituted  this  estate  of  Matrimony,1  and  made  it 
honourable ; 2 — not  only  in  its  own  nature, — but  as  an 
emblem  of  the  "  mystical  union  betwixt  Christ  and  his 
Church."  3  This  "  holy  estate  Christ  adorned  and  beau- 
tified," by  being  present  at  a  marriage-feast  in  Cana,  where 
he  wrought  his  first  miracle."  4  Matrimony,  then,  being  so 
solemn  an  engagement,  and  such  an  important  step  in  life, 
should  never  be  undertaken  by  any  person,  "  lightly,  or 
wantonly,"  but  with  becoming  reverence  for  God's  institu- 
tion, and  due  consideration  of  the  causes  for  which  it  was 
ordained.5 

The  minister  then  charges  those  present  to  state  any  just 
objections  to  the  marriage,  which  they  may  know  of; — and 
adds  a  solemn  injunction  to  the  parties  themselves,  to  the 
same  purpose:  assuring  them,  that,  (though  they  may 
deceive  man,)  if  their  union  is  contrary  to  God's  word,  they 
are  "  not  joined  together  by  God ;"  but,  in  his  sight,  will  be 
living  in  adultery  and  perpetual  sin.6 

The  mutual  consent  of  the  parties  is  then  asked,7  which 
constituted  the  substance  of  the  ancient  espousals,  made 
previously  to  marriage.8  And,  to  render  the  stipulation 
more  distinct,  the  minister  enumerates  the  duties  contained 
in  the  marriage  contract,  which  are  the  same  on  both  sides  " 
except  that  "to  obey,  and  serve'1''  belong  to  the  wife  alone.9 

How  solemn  is  the  ratification  contained  in  those  little 
words — "  I  will !"     How  important  their  bearing  upon  the 

l  Gen.  ii.  18,  21—24.  2  Heb.  xiii.  4. 

3  Eph.  v.  22—33.  4  John  ii.  1—11. 

5  Comp.  Gen.  vi.  1 — 5.     Psa.  xxxii.  9.    Jude  10,  with  Gen.  xxiv. 

6  Ezra  x.  2—12.    Matt.  v.  32 ;  xix.  3—9.     Mark  vi.  17,  18. 

7  Comp.  Gen.  xxiv.  38 

8  Comp.  Matt  i.  18.    See  Wheatly,  and  Bingham's  Ant  b.  xxii.  c.  iii. 

9  The  following  are  the  duties  contained  in  the  Matrimonial  covenant. 
1.  On  the  husband's  side — to  "  live  together."  Gen.  ii.  24.  Ecc.  ix.  9. 
"  Love,-"  Eph.  v.  25,  28.  "  Comfort,"  Eph.  v.  29.  "  Honour,"  1  Pet.  iii.  7. 
"  Keep  her,"  &c.  1  Cor.  vii.  3.  Eph.  v.  29.  "  Forsake  all  other,  &c." 
MaL  ii.  15,  16.  Prov.  v.  15—20.  1  Cor.  vii.  10,  11.— 2.  On  the  wife's— in 
addition  to  the  preceding,  (omitting  to  "Comfort,")  to  "Obey,"  Eph.  v. 
22—24.  Col.  iii.  18.  Tit.  ii.  5.  1  Pet.  iii.  1—5.  "  Serve"  and  "  Honour." 
Eph.  v.  23.     1  Pet.  iii.  6. 

23 


266  MUTUAL    VOW. — MARHIAUE    RING. 

future  peace  or  disquietude  of  the  parties  thus  mutually- 
contracting;  according  as  they  are  uttered,  with  due  deli- 
beration and  hearty  consent,  or  with  hasty  rashness,  or 
hollow  insincerity ! 

The  Minister  then  asks,  "  Who  gives  the  woman  to  be 
married  ?" — an  ancient  custom,  not  without  meaning  ;  ' — 
and  having  received  her  "  at  her  father's  or  friend's  hands," 
he  places  her  right  hand  in  that  of  her  future  husband.2 
Observe,  how  the  Minister,  as  God's  representative,  trans- 
acts every  step  in  this  solemn  contract ;  in  order  that  the 
married  couple  may  henceforth  look  upon  each  other  as 
given  by  and  received  from  God  himself.3  The  parties 
espoused  now  "  plight  their  troth,"  i,  e.  pledge  their  faith 
to  each  other,  in  a  form  brief  and  simple,  yet  full  and 
explicit ;  and  so  plain,  that  it  cannot  be  mistaken.    "  I  take 

thee to  have  and  to  hold,  from  this  day  forward, 

for  better  for  worse,  for  richer,  for  poorer,  in  sickness  and 
in  health,  to  love  and  to  cherish,  till  death  us  do  part,  &c." 

The  covenant  thus  mutually  ratified,  is  visibly  sealed 
*'  by  giving  and  receiving  a  ring,"  4  placed  by  the  man  on 
the  woman's  left  hand,  repeating  these  words.  "  With  this 
ring  I  thee  wed,  and  with  all  my  worldly  goods  I  thee  en- 
«dow,  &c."  He  hereby  promises  to  regard  her  as  his  law- 
ful wife,  to  pay  her  all  due  respect  as  the  mistress  of  his 
family,  and  to  give  her  a  full  share  of  his  property  ;  and  he 
calls  the  Holy  Trinity  to  witness  his  solemn  engagement. 

The  Minister  then  proceeds  to  "  bless  them  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord  ;" 3  the  sacred  seal  which,  from  the  first  ages 


1  Gen.  xxix.  19;  xxxiv.  16.  1  Cor.  vii.  38.  See  Hooker,  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  73.  (5.) 

~  2  Kings  x.  15.     See  Tobit  vii.  13.  3  Compare  Gen.  ii.  22. 

*  In  the  first  Prayer-book  of  Edw!  Vh,  the  Rubric  directed  that  the  man 
should  "  give  unto  the  woman  a  ring,  and  other  tokens  of  spousage,  as  gold 
or  silver,  (a  remains  of  the  ancient  coemption,  or  purchasing  of  a  wife,) 
adding  after,  the  words  "  I  wed,"  "  This  gold  and  silver  I  thee  give.''  The 
ring  itself  is  supposed  to  be  a  relic  of  the  same  ancient,  and  barbarous 
custom.  But  it  is  much  more  instructive  in  its  signification,  may  be 
traced  back  to  the  earliest  ages  of  Christianity,  and  has  been  worthily 
letained  as  an  innocent  and  expressive  memorial.     See  Appendix  (A.) 

5  Psalm  cxxix.  8. 


BENEDICTION.  267 

of  the  Church,  has  ever  been  affixed  to  the  marriage-cove- 
n-ant.'  How  interesting  is  the  scene,  when  two  young  per- 
sons, whose  hearts  have  been  given  to  the  Lord  before  they 
were  given  to  each  other,2 — having  pledged  their  mutual 
vows  for  life  before  God  and  his  Church,  kneel  together  at 
his  sacred  Table  to  receive  his  paternal  benediction  !  While 
faith  regards  the  bright  circle  of  gold  on  the  bridal  ringer,  as 
a  pledge  of  a  higher  and  holier  union,  that  can  never  be  dis- 
solved ! 3 — Such  a  marriage  is  "in  the  Lord."i  Angels 
look  down  and  rejoice  over  them  ;  the  Church  looks  up  and 
thanks  God  for  them  ! 

How  beautiful  and  appropriate  is  the  language  of  the 
Benedictory  Prayer  ! — "  O  Eternal  God,  creator  and  pre- 
server of  all  mankind,  giver  of  all  spiritual  grace,  the  author 
of  everlasting  life,  &c."  3  We  plead  for  them,  "  that,  as 
Isaac  and  Rebekah  lived  faithfully  together,6  so  these  per- 
sons may  surely  perform  and  keep  the  vow  and  covenant 
betwixt  them  made,  and  may  ever  remain  in  perfect  love 
and  peace  together,  and  live  according  to  God's  laws,"  &c.7 

The  Priest  then  joins  their  right  hands  together,  saying 
those  words  of  our  blessed  Lord  ;  "  Those  whom  God  hath 
joined  together,  let  no  man  put  asunder."8  He  then  pro- 
claims them  to  be  "  Man  and  Wife  together,  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  &c."  Finally,  he  pronounces  a  solemn  blessing, 
"  God  the  Father,  God  the  Son,  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  bless, 

1  See  Bingham  Ant.  xxii.  iv.  1,  who  quotes  Tertullian  ad  Uxor.  ii.  1. 
Ambrose  Ep.  70.    Cone.  Carth.  4.  Can.  13.     Chrys.  Horn.  48.  &c. 

2  2  Cor.  viii.  5. 

3  "  Felices  ter  et  amplius, 

Quos  irrupta  tenet  copula :  nee  malis 
Divulsus  querimoniis, 
Suprema  citius  solvet  amor  die." 

Hor.  Carm.  i.  xiii.  17. 

4  1  Cor.  vii.  39. 

5  See  Isa.  xlv.  12.  Psa.  xxxvi.  6.  Job  vii.  20.  1  Pet.  v.  10.  1  John 
v.  20.    Heb.  v.  9. 

6  In  the  first  Prayer-book  was  added  in  a  parenthesis  ("after  bracelets 
and  jewels  of  gold  given  of  the  one  to  the  other  for  tokens  of  their  matri- 
mony ;")  alluding,  probably,  to  the  "  tokens  of  spousage,  gold  or  silver, 
before  presented  to  the  bride  by  her  husband. 

7  Luke  i.  5,  6.    2  Cor.  xiii.  11.  8  Matt.  xxi.  6. 


268  PRAYERS    AFTER    SOLEMNIZATION. 

preserve,  and  keep  you.1  The  Lord  mercifully  with  his  fa- 
your  look  upon  you,  and  so  fill  you  with  all  spiritual  grace,2 
that  ye  may  so  live  together  in  this  life,  that  in  the  world  to 
come  ye  may  have  life  everlasting."  3 

i  Numb.  vi.  24— 26.     1  Sam.  ii.  20.  ^  Eph.  i.  3. 

3  1  Pet.  iii.  7.  In  the  first  Prayer-Book,  the  benediction  was  as  fol- 
lows. "God  the  father  bless  +  you.  God  the  Son  keep  you :  God  the 
Holy  Ghost  lighten  your  understanding:  The  Lord  mercifully  with  his 
favour  look  upon  you,  and  so  fill  you  with  all  spiritual  benediction,  and 
grace,  that  you  may  have  remission  of  your  sins  in  this  life,  and  in  the 
world  to  come  life  everlasting." 


APPENDIX    A.     [page  264.] 

The  custom  of  giving  a  ring,  in  the  rites  of  espousal,  was  derived 
from  the  Romans,  (Juv.  vi.  27;)1  it  was  placed  on  the  fourth  fin- 
ger of  the  left  hand,  because  it  was  anciently  believed  a  particu- 
lar nerve,  or  vein,  reached  from  thence  to  the  heart.2  To  this 
Tertullian  alludes,  when  he  says,  "No  woman  was  permitted  to 
wear  gold  (aurum  norat)  saving  only  upon  one  finger,  which  her 
husband  had  pledged  (or,  engaged  to  himself,)  with  the  ring  of 
espousals  (oppignerasset  annulo  pronubo")  Apol.  e.  6.  Clemens 
Alexandrimis  expressly  mentions  the  use  of  the  ring  in  espousals 
among  Christians.  He  says,  the  "  golden  ring  is  given  them 
(Christian  wives)  not  as  an  ornament,  but  as  a  seal,  to  signify  the 
woman's  duty  in  preserving  the  goods  of  her  husband,  because 
the  care  of  the  house  belongs  to  her."  (Peed.  iii.  xi.  57.)  Here  it 
may  be  remarked,  that  rings  were  used  by  the  ancient  Hebrews, 
and  other  orientals,  as  seals,  and  were  given,  as  signs  of  confi- 
dence, tokens  of  constant  and  lasting  friendship,  and  pledges  of  en- 
dearment. (See  Gen.  xli.  42.  Esth.  iii.  10,  viii.  2,  8.  Luke  xv.  22.) 
See  also  Hooker,  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  73.  (6.)     Bingham,  Ant.  xxii.  iii.  5. 

l  "  Digito  pignus  fortasse  dedisti." 

%  Plin.  Hist.  Nat.  1.  3.  c  1.  Macrob.  1.  7.  c.  13.  The  absurdity  of  the 
reason  is  no  sufficient  ground  for  quarrelling  with  an  ancient  custom,  or 
exchanging  one  finger  for  another. 


CHAPTER    XI. 


VISITATION    OF    THE    SICK. 


Sickness  has  been  a  messenger  of  mercy  to  many ; — "  a 
time  to  sow,"  as  well  as  "  a  time  to  reap,"  spiritual  things ; 
— a  "  blessing  in  disguise,"  revealing  a  Father's  love  from 
beneath  the  darkling  cloud,  ^nd  amid  the  driving  storm. 
Thus  has  been  spiritually  fulfilled  that  precious  word  of  pro- 
mise, "  I  will  bring  health  and  cure,  and  I  will  cure  them, 
and  will  reveal  unto  them  the  abundance  of  peace  and 
truth."" ' 

How  important,  then,  is  it  that  a  time  of  sickness  should 
be  rightly  improved.  It  is  often  the  harvest  of  a  man's  life 
for  eternity,  which,  if  allowed  to  pass  away  without  gather- 
ing in  the  appointed  fruit,  the  soul  is  irretrievably  lost.  How 
few  know  the  meaning  of  such  a  dispensation  !  To  "  open 
the  ears  of  men,  and  seal  their  instruction,  that  He  may 
ivithdraiv  man  from  his  purpose,  and  hide  pride  from 
man;"2  God  now  calls  us  aside  from  the  world,  to  speak 
with  us  quietly,  and  alone !  How  important  is  it,  at  such  a 
time,  to  have  at  one's  side  a  wise  and  faithful  friend,  espe- 
cially il'he  be  a  Minister  of  the  Gospel,  one  able  to  expound 
the  message  of  God  aright,  that  we  may  "  hear  the  rod," 
and  Him  "who  hath  appointed  it."3  One  instructed,  as 
occasion  requires,  to  wound  or  to  heal,  to  break  or  to  bind 
up  : — to  alarm  the  careless,  or  comfort  the  afflicted  spirit ; 
and  thus,  by  a  safe  course,  to  "  guide  the  feet  into  the  way 
of  peace."4     Elihu  well  expresses  the  value  and  benefit  of 

1  Jer.  xxxiii.  6. 

2  Job.  xxxiii.  16,  17,  which  seem  connected  with  the  following,  as  much 
as  with  the  preceding  verses. 

3  Micah  vi.  9.  4  Luke  i.  79. 

23  *  269 


270 


USE    OF    THE    SERVICE. 


such  a  visitor  in  sickness.  "  If  there  be  a  messenger  with 
him,  an  interpreter,  one  among  a  thousand,  to  shew  unto 
man  his  (God's)  uprightness,  then  he  is  gracious  unto  him, 
and  saith,  Deliver  him  from  going  down  to  the  pit,  I  have 
found  a  ransom.  He  shall  pray  unto  God,  and  he  will  be 
favourable  unto  him,  and  he  shall  see  his  face  with  joy .'" 

The  Church  has,  therefore,  provided  a  service  for  "  the 
Visitation  of  the  Sick,"  which,  (such  is  the  strange  inter- 
weaving of  joy  and  sorrow  in  this  chequered  scene,)  comes 
next  to  that  for  the  solemnization  of  Matrimony.  Not  that 
any  service  can  meet  all  the  different  cases  which  may  arise, 
the  variety  and  intricacy  of  which  make  the  visitation  of  the 
sick  one  of  the  most  difficult  parts  of  the  Pastoral  office.  She 
has  only  "  done  what  she  could,"2  and  leaves  the  rest  to  the 
care  and  discretion  of  the  Minister.3 

It  is  our  part,  thankfully  to  use,  as  we  may,  her  scriptu- 
ral provision,  and  explain  the  manner  of  its  application ;  and 
we  shall  endeavour  so  to  unfold  those  truths  which  she  has 
set  before  her  sick  members  for  their  edification  in  godliness, 
that  they  may  enjoy  the  full  benefit  of  her  visits  of  mercy, 
in  the  prayerful  study  of  these  forms,  even  while  alone ; — 
and  be  enabled  to  take  for  themselves  that  spiritual  medicine, 
which  is  here  offered  to  them  for  their  soul's  health. 

The  duty  of  visiting  the  sick  does  not  belong  exclusively 
to  Ministers.  All  Christians,  according  to  their  opportunity 
and  ability,  should  take  their  part  in  its  performance.4  They 
will  find  it  "  better  to  go  to  the  house  of  mourning"  and  sick- 
ness,  "than  to  the  house  of  feasting;"5 — a  most  pleasant 

l  Job  xxxiii  23,  24, 26.  2  Mark  xiv.  8. 

3  The  lxvii.  Canon  orders,  that — "  When  any  person  is  dangerously  sick 
in  any  parish,  the  minister  or  curate,  having  knowledge  thereof,  shall  resort 
unto  him  or  her,  (if  the  disease  be  not  known,  or  probably  suspected,  to  be 
infectious,)  to  instruct  and  comfort  them  in  their  distress,  according  to  the 
order  of  the  Communion-book,  if  he  be  no  preacher;  or  if  he  be  a  preacher ,'' 
(i.  e.  or  minister  licensed  to  preach,)  "then- as  he  shall  think  most  needful 
and  convenient."  Nor  will  the  danger  of  infection,  in  every  case,  excuse 
the  Pastor's  absence,  when  duty  calls  him  to  expose  himself  to  it.  The 
path  of  duty  is  the  path  of  saftty. 

*  James  i.  27.  s  Eccles.  vii  2 


■S'AV.    SALUTATION.".  271 

and  profitable  exercise,  bringing  its  own  reward  along  with 
it ; — and  assuring  the  believer  of  an  everlasting  recompense.' 
But  especially  the  faithful  Pastor  does  well  to  embrace  these 
opportunities  of  getting  closer  access  to  the  members  of  his 
ilock,  and  obtaining  an  entrance,  not  only  into  their  houses, 
but  their  hearts.  Excellent,  therefore,  in  this  view,  is  the 
advice  of  the  Son  of  Sirach  ;  "  Be  not  slow  to  visit  the  sick  ; 
for  that  shall  make  thee  to  be  beloved.''''2 

The  Rubric  prefixed  to  the  service  requires,  that  "  When 
any  person  is  sick,  notice  shall  be  given  thereof  to  the  Min- 
ister of  the  Parish ;"  which  is  in  accordance  with  the  Apos- 
tolic precept,  "  Is  any  sick  among  you  ?  let  him  call  for  the 
elders  of  the  church,  and  let  them  pray  over  him."3  They 
were  directed  to  send  for  the  minister,  even  before  the  phy- 
sician. And  though  the  exercise  of  miraculous  power  can 
no  longer  be  looked  for,  and,  consequently,  the  "  anointing 
with  oil  in  the  name  of  the  Lord"4  has  been  properly  discon- 
tinued ;  yet,  surely,  "  the  prayer  of  faith"  has  not  lost  its 
value  and  power  to  bless,  except  so  far  as  we  have  disarmed 
and  frustrated  it  by  our  own  neglect  and  unfaithfulness. 

The  Minister,  on  entering  the  house  of  the  sick  person,  is 
to  say,  "  Peace  be  to  this  house,  and  to  all  that  dwell  in  it :" 
the  friendly  salutation  enjoined  by  our  Lord  on  his  disciples, 
in  their  visits  of  mercy : — implying  all  kinds  of  health  and 
happiness,  temporal,  spiritual,  and  eternal.5  Nor  should  it 
be  used  and  regarded  as  a  mere  compliment ;  but  as  indi- 
cating, on  the  one  side,  a  spirit  of  sympathy  with  the  afflict- 
ed, becoming  the  ambassador  of  peace  ;6 — and,  on  the  other, 

»  Matt.  xxv.  34,  36,  40,  43—46.  2  Ecclus.  vii.  35. 

3  James  v.  14.  4  Ibid.  Comp.  Mark  vi.  13. 

J  Matt.  x.  12.  Luke  x.  5,  answering  to  the  Hebrew  diSe>  Oen.  xliii.  13, 
corresponding  with  the  old  English  word  "  hail !"  i.  e.  "  health  and  happiness 
be  to  you." 

6  Our  approach  to  the  sick  should  be  in  the  pari  of  a  friend.  Our 
spirit,  manners,  and  voice  should  exhibit  manifest  sympathy — such  as  our 
Master  displayed,  when  he  stopped  the  bier  at  the  gate  of  Nain,  and  wept 
at  the  tomb  of  Lazarus.  Nothing  more  successfully  engages  confidence, 
than  when  the  official  garb  shows— "a  brother  that  is  born  for  adversity  " 
Prov.  xvii.  17.     Bridges'  Christian  Ministry,  5th  Ed.  p.  385 


272  THE    SERVICE. 

to  be  received  with  faith  and  thankfulness,  as  conveying  a 
real  benediction  to  those  who  are  divinely  prepared  to  wel- 
come it.1 

The  service  itself  begins  with  a  petition  from  the  Litany? 
"  Remember  not,  Lord,  our  iniquities,  &c,"  which  is  suited 
to  remind  all  present,  that  sickness  is,  generally,  the  fruit 
and  punishment  of  sin ;  and  that  we  all  deserve  thus  to  suf- 
fer, not  only  for  our  own,  but  for  our  fathers'  sins.3  This 
is  followed  by  the  Lesser  Litany,4,  and  the  Lord's  Prayer. 
Next  come  the  Responses,  which  we  have  already  consi- 
dered, with  the  addition  of  the  third  pair  ;  "  Let  the  enemy 
have  no  advantage,  &c."5  This  union  in  supplication,  all 
taking  a  part  with  heart  and  voice,  is  very  refreshing  to  the 
sick  and  infirm  Christian,  whose  languishing  body  clogs  the 
efforts  of  his  willing  mind.6 

The  Minister  then  offers  up  a  prayer  for  the  sick  person, 
that  the  Lord  would  "  look  down  from  heaven,7  behold,  visit, 
and  relieve"  his  afflicted  "  servant :"  language  which  does 
not  imply  any  doubt  of  God's  omnipresence,  or  providential 
care,  but  only  expresses  an  earnest  desire  of  its  special  mani- 
festation. "  Look  upon  him,"  he  proceeds,  "  with  the  eyes 
of  thy  mercy,  give  him  comfort  and  sure  confidence  in  thee, 
defend  him  from  the  danger  of  the  enemy,  and  keep  him  in 
perpetual  peace  and  safety,  through  Jesus,  &c."  How  full 
and  comprehensive  is  this  short  Collect.  How  rich  the 
blessings  we  pray  for  !  A  sense  of  the  Lord's  gracious  pre- 
sence,— a  comfortable  persuasion  of  'his  favour, —  assured 
confidence  in  his  parental  character, — defence  against  all 
spiritual  and  bodily  dangers,  with  which  Satan,  at  such  a 
time,  might  be  allowed  to  assail  the  enfeebled  sufferer  :  and, 
lastly,  (which  embraces  all  in  one,)  perfect  peace  and  con- 


l  Luke  x.  6.    Comp.  Isaiah  Ivii.  19 — 21. 

^  In  the  first  Book  of  Edward  VI.,  it  began  with  the  143rd  Psalm. 

3  Gen.  iii,  17—19.    Job  v.  7.    Exod.  xx.  5.    Psalm  cvi.  6.    Jer.  xiv.  20, 
21.    See  p.  85. 

4  See  p.  65,  (5.)  5  Psalm  lxxxix.  23.    P.  B.  tr. 

6  2  Cor.  i.  11.  7  Psalm  lxxx.  14.    Isaiah  lxiii.  15. 


PRAYERS.-  27  3 

scious  security,  in  the  hiding-piaco  of  Jehovah's  covenant 
love  and  constant  care  ! l 

In  the  second  Collect,  the  Minister  prays  that  the  affliction 
may  be  sanctified  to  the  sick  person ;  "  that  the  sense  of 
his  weakness  may  add  strength  to  his  faith,  and  seriousness 
to  his  repentance ;" — so  that,  if  the  patient  be  restored  to 
health,  "  this  fatherly  correction1'  may  tend  to  his  advance 
in  holiness  here;  if  otherwise,  it  may  terminate  in  his  ever- 
lasting happiness  hereafter.2 

As  we  observed  before  that  the  Church  leaves  the  Minis- 
ter  a  general  discretionary  power  respecting  the  use  of  the 
service  in  cases  of  sickness ;  so,  particularly,  in  the  topics 
of  exhortation,  she  gives  him  the  choice  of  the  form  she  has 
prepared,  "  or  other  like"  of  his  own  selection.  This  is  a 
very  wise  and  important  direction :  because,  it  is  obvious, 
that  on  such  an  occasion,  no  precomposed  form,  however 
excellent,  can  be  so  suited  to  the  purpose,  or  come  home  so 
powerfully  to  the  best  feelings  of  the  heart,  as  the  free  and 
unpremeditated  address  of  the  faithful  and  experienced 
Minister.3 

Where,  however,  a  form  is  desired,  the  Exhortation 
of  our  Church  will  be  found  both  suitable  and  scriptural ; 

1  Job  v.  18,  19.  Psalm  Ixxi.  20,  21.  Prov.  xiv.  26.  Isaiah  xsvi.  3 
Psalm  xxvii.  5 ;  Iv.  22.     1  Peter  v.  7—10.     Phil.  iv.  6,  7. 

2  Job  v.  17.  Psalm  ciii.  13.  Prov.  iii.  11,  12.  Isaiah  xl.  29.  2  Cor. 
xii.  9i  10.  James  i.  12.  In  the  first  Prayer-Book  this  Collect,  after  the 
words  "grieved  with  sickness,"  was  as  follows:  "Visit  him.  O  Lord,  as 
thou  didst  visit  Peter's  wife's  mother,  and  the  Captain's  servant.  And  as 
thou  preservedst  Thobie  and  Sara  by  thy  angel  from  danger;  so  restore 
unto  this  sick  person  his  former  health,  >'if  it  be  thy  will)  or,"  &c. 

2  "  Whatever  be  its  excellence,  it  partakes  oi  the  disadvantage  of  "not 
being  particular  enough  for  each  several  occasion." — (Bp.  Wilkins'  Gift 
of  Prayer,  p.  12.)  Indeed  the  service  presuming  the  sick  person  to  be 
a  penitent,  is  obviously  inappropriate  to  the  melancholy  multitude  of 
eases  of  an  opposite  description — so  that,  as  Bp.  Barrington  justly  ob- 
served, "  in  many  cases  the  funeral  service  might  be  used  with  almost 
as  much  propriety  as  the  office  for  the  sick." — (Ch.  1797,  p.  31.)  Bishop 
Horsley  gives  the  same  judgment  on  the  exclusive  use  of  the  service. — 
Charges,  p.  153.  Much  edifying  use  may  however,  be  made  of  it,  where 
suitable.' — Rev.  C.  Bridges'  Christian  Ministry,  5th  Ed.  p.  385. 


274  EXHORTATION. 

at  least,  if  properly  understood,  and  scripturally  ap. 
plied. 

She  begins  by  reminding  the  sick  person,  that  his  sick- 
ness is  "  God's  visitation,"  2  and  that  «  for  whatever  cause 
it  is  sent ;"  (whether  for  a  trial  of  exemplary  patience,3  or 
that  faith,  being  exercised  and  drawn  forth,  "  may  be  found 
unto  praise,  and  honour,  and  glory,  at  the  appearing  of 
Jesus  Christ ;" 4  or  as  a  corrective  of  something  in  him 
offensive  to  his  heavenly  Father  ;5) — it  is  intended  for 
good  f  and,  if  properly  improved,  by  true  repentance,7  pa- 
tient endurance,8  and  simple  trust  in  God's  mercy  through 
Christ  ;9  thankful  acknowledgment  of  his  fatherly  design,10 
and  entire  submission  to  his  will ;  "  it  will  "  turn  to  his 
profit,  and  help  him  forward  in  the  way  to  everlasting 
life."  vi 

Here  the  Church,  as  a  tender  parent,  (copying  the  ex- 
ample of  that  kind  Shepherd,  who  "  gently  leads"  the  feeble 
ones  in  his  flock;13)  fearing  lest  the  patient  should  be  ex- 
hausted by  the  fatigue  of  sustained  attention  to  a  long  dis- 
dourse,  recommends  the  Minister  to  pause,  "  if  the  person 
visited  be  very  sick." 

Otherwise,  she  proceeds  to  inculcate  the  necessity  and 
blessed  result  of  patience  under  affliction ;  reciting,  for  this 
purpose,  a  beautiful  passage  from  the  Epistle  to  the  He- 
brews,14 and  exhorting  the  sufferer  to  consider  the  comfort  of 
being  "  made  like  unto  Christ.15     For  he  went  not.  up  to  joy, 

1  Jer.  vi.  14.     Ezek.  xiii.  10.    2  Tim.  ii.  15. 

2  Deut.  xxxii.  39.    Job  v.  6;  xii.  9,  10.    Amos  iii.  6. 

3  James  i.  2—4 ;  v.  10.  4  1  Peter  i.  6,  7,  9.    2  Cor.  iv.  17,  18. 

5  Psalm  xxxix.  11;  lxxxix.  30—33;  cxix.  67,  71.    Hab.  i-  13. 

6  Rom.  viii.  28.     Rev.  iii.  19. 

i  Ecc.  vii.  14.  Psa.  cxix.  59,  60.  Hos.  vi.  1.  Job  xxxiv.  31,  32, 
2  Cor.  vii.  10.  8  Lev.  x.    1 — 3.     Psalm  xxxix.   9.    Micah  vii.   9. 

Lam.  iii.   39.  9  Nahum  i.  7.    2  Tim.  i.    12.     1  Peter  iv.  19,  v.  7. 

1  John  ii.  1,  2.  10  psa.  xvi.  8;  cxix.  75.  Rom  .v.  3—5;  viii,  15—18- 

1 1  Job.  i.  20,  21 ;  ii.  10.     1  Sam.  iii.  18.    2  Sam.  xvi.  10.     Isa.  xxxix.  8. 

i2Heb.xiLlO.il.    James  i.  12. 

13  Isaiah  xL  11.  Comp.  Gen.  xxxiii.  13,  14.  Matt.  xii.  7,20.  Mark 
iv.  33;  vi.  31.    John  xvi.  12.  l  4  Heb.  xii.  6—10. 

J  s  Phil.  i.  29;  iii.  10.    Heb.  xi.  26.     1  Peter  ii.  21—24. 


SUFFERING  NOT  EXPIATORY.  275 

but  firsl  he  suffered  pain ;  he  entered  not  into  his  glory- 
before  he  was  crucified."1 

When  it  is  added  that  "our  way  to  eternal  joy  is  to  suffer 
here  with  Christ:"2  we  must  not  suppose  that  it  is  intended 
that  the  mere  act  of  suffering  will  be  of  any  avail  for  this 
end,  except  so  far  as  it  is  "with  Christ,''''  endured  in  his 
strength,  for  his  sake,  and  after  his  example.  It  is  only 
when  by  "  suffering  in  the  flesh,"  as  Christ  suffered,  "  we 
cease  from  sin," 3  that  we  can  claim  this  distinguished  pri- 
vilege ;  that  death  becomes  our  life,  and  dying  with  Him 
here,  we  shall  live  with  him  for  ever.4 

Having  thus  prepared  the  way  by  general  remarks ; — 
like  a  physician  feeling  the  pulse  of  his  patient,  she  proceeds 
to  a  closer  contact.  She  reminds  the  sick  man  of  his  Bap- 
tismal vows,  and  of  the  solemn  account  he  must  give  at  the 
Day  of  Judgment :  exhorting  him  to  examine  himself  as  to 
his  state  "both  toward  God  and  man,"6  that  "judging  him- 
self, he  may  not  be  condemned"  of  the  Lord  "  in  that  fearful 
judgment." 7 

This  is  plain  and  faithful  dealing;  and  it  were  to  be  wished 
that  it  were  more  frequently  practised,  in  the  sick-room,  as 
well  as  in  the  pulpit.  For,  as  a  great  authority  observes, 
"  there  is  nothing  more  fatal  to  the  insensible,  than  when  we 
flatter  them,  or  only  lightly  graze  the  surface  of  the  skin, 
when  they  should  rather  be  pierced  through."8  There  is 
too  much  cause  to  fear  that  many  slumbering  souls  are  sent 
to  the  bar  of  God  with  a  lie  in  their  right  hand,"  for  whose 
blood  their  pastors  must  give  an  awful  account ;  who  have 
administered  to  them  nothing  better  than  "  opiate  divinity," l0 

1  Heb.  ii.  10;  xii.  1,  2.  2  2  Tim.  ii.  11,  12.  3  1  Peter  iv.  1. 

4  Rom.  vi.  8,  9,  &c.    Col.  iii.  3,  4. 

5  Rom.  xiv.  10,  12.     1  Peter  i.  17.    2  Cor.  v.  11. 

6  Psalm  xxvi.  2.     Lam.  iii.  40.    Hag.  i.  5.     1  Cor.  xi.  28.    2  Cor.  xiii.  5. 

7  1  Cor.  xi.  31,  32.    2  Tim.  i.  18.     Rev.  vi.  15—17 ;  xxi.  8. 

«  Calvin  on  Acts  viii.  23.  See  Cecil's  Remains,  "  On  visiting  Death- 
beds." 9  Isaiah  xliv.  20. 

l  o  Winchester — quoted  by  Bridges  in  his  Christian  Ministry,  p  384 
Conip.  Isaiah  xxx.  10. 


276  PERSEVERING    SCRUTINY    REQUISITE. 

instead  of  awakening  calls  to  "  flee  from  the  wrath  to 
come." l 

To  assist  the  inquirer  in  the  work  of  self-examination,  the 
Minister  is  now  directed  to  question  him  respecting  his  faith, 
"  for,  if  that  be  wrong,  all  is  wrong." 2  Nor  must  we  admit 
the  fatal  error  of  supposing  that  this  inquiry  is  to  be  confined 
to  an  assent  to  the  mere  articles  of  the  Creed  ,\  which  contain, 
indeed,  the  formal  matter  of  our  faith,  but  not  even  the 
shadow  of  its  reality  and  vital  influence.3  The  inquiry  into 
this  most  fundamental  point,  should  be  close  and  full,  the 
instructions  clear  and  explicit ;  continued  from  time  to  time, 
as  circumstances,  and  the  strength  of  the  patient,  will  admit ; 
— for  we  are  never  to  imagine  that  a  single  visit  will  serve 
the  turn,  in  the  case  of  the  ministerial,  any  more  than  in 
that  of  the  medical  attendant. 

We  may  observe  that  the  Church  has  only  furnished  the 
heads  of  examination,  and  leaves  the  rest  to  the  prayerful 
diligence  and  holy  skill  ■  of  the  wise  and  conscientious 
Pastor. 

"  Faith  without  works"  being  "  dead," 4  and  worthless, 
the  Minister  must  inquire  into  the  character  of  the  person's 
life ;  whether  it  has  exhibited  the  marks  of  true  repentance, 
and  charity  towards  all  men ;  and  examine  further  into  the 
present  state  of  his  heart,  with  respect  to  the  forgiveness  of 

1  Matt.  iii.  7.  Bishop  Sparrow  observes,  that  "  it  were  a  happy  thing  to 
see  in  the  people  an  answerable  diligence  in  the  use  of  these  godly  offices; 
that  they  would,  when  they  are  sick,  send  for  the  priest;  not  verbally  only 
to  comfort  them,  by  rehearsing  to  them  comfortable  texts  of  scripture, 
whether  they  belong  to  them  or  not,  (which  is  not  to  heal  the  sick,  but  to  tell 
them  that  they  have  no  need  of  the  spiritual  physician,  by  which  means 
precious  souls  perish,  for  whom  Christ  died :)  but  to  search  and  examine 
the  state  of  their  souls,  to  show  them  their  sins,"  &c. — "  Rationale." 

2  Bp.  Sparrow's  "  Rationale."  2  Cor.  xiii.  5. 

3  The  Creed,  however,  if  rightly  used,  affords  an  excellent  groundwork 
for  self-examination.  As  for  instance:  "Do  I  believe  that  Jesus  Christ 
is  the  only  Saviour?  and  that  He  is  my  Saviour?  Do  I  believe  that  my 
sins  are  forgiven  for  his  sake  ?  Have  I  received  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  Am  I 
living  in  the  communion  of  saints? 

■i  James  ii.  17. 


CHARITABLE    BEQUESTS.  277 

injuries,  and  require  restitution  for  wrongs  done  to  others,  to 
the  utmost  of  his  power.1 

The  sick  man  is  now  to  be  admonished  to  "  set  his  house 
in  order,"2  by  a  testamentary  disposal  of  his  property,  in 
order  to  prevent  disputes  and  litigation  among  the  survivors  : 
though,  as  our  Church  suggests,  this  is  a  matter  which  should 
never  be  deferred  to  a  time  of  sickness,  when  it  is  becoming 
that  subjects  still  more  important  should  occupy  the  mind, 
to  the  exclusion,  as  far  as  may  be,  of  all  worldly  cares. 

In  settling  our  affairs,  in  the  immediate  prospect  of  eter- 
nity, it  is  surely  meet  that  we  should  "remember  the  poor;"3 
and,  as  far  as  our  circumstances  will  admit,  make  Christ, 
at  least,  one  of  our  heirs  :4  showing  our  love  to  our  brethren, 
and  interest  in  his  cause,  by  this  last  act  of  charity.5 

Entering,  as  we  do,  our  decided  protest  against  the  Ro- 
mish doctrine  of  satisfaction  for  sin,  and  purchasing  heaven, 
as  it  were,  by  death-bed  bequests,  too  often  as  unjust  to  the 
living,  as  they  are  unprofitable  to  the  dead,  we  yet  think  that 
Christians  should  be  more  frequently  excited  to  this  duty  of 
promoting  the  interests  of  religion,  and  relieving  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  distressed,  by  liberal  gifts,  not  only  during  their 
lifetime,  but  in  the  last  disposal  of  their  property. 

Then  follows  a  Collect,  which  was  the  original  form  of 
reconciliation  for  a  dying  penitent,  used  in  the  Western 
Church  ever  since  the  fifth  century.6     "  O  most  merciful 

1  See  p.  159,  note  5.  2  Isaiah  xxxviii.  1.    2  Kings  xx.  1. 

3  Gal.  ii  10.  Comp.  Matt.  xxv.  34— 42.  Luke  xvi.  9— 11.  Also  Dan. 
iv.  27.  Matt.  xix.  21.  Luke  xi.  41 ;  passages,  which  may  easily  be  abused, 
as  they  have  been,  to  superstitious  and  self-righteous  purposes;  but  which 
must  neither  be  lost  sight  of,  nor  explained  away.  See  Scott's  Commen- 
tary on  the  above  texts. 

4  Augustine,  rejecting  the  bequest  of  an  inheritance,  which  seemed  to 
him  injurious  to  the  family  of  the  deceased,  who  had  made  the  Church 
his  heir,  adds ;  '•  What  I  have  often  advised  is  this;  if  a  man  has  one  son, 
let  him  put  Christ  in  the  place  of  a  second;  if  two,  in  the  place  of  a  third; 
if  ten,  in  the  place  of  an  eleventh  ;  and  that  I  will  receive.''  And  he  men- 
tions the  inheritance  of  one  Julian,  among  many  others,  which  he  had  re- 
ceived, "  because  he  d  ed  without  children."     Serm.  355. 

5  Some  good  advice  on  "  the  sick  man's  will,''  is  to  be  found  in  Bacon's 
works.    Fark.  So.  Ed.    "Piayers,"  <£c.  pp  117 — 120. 

6  Contained  in  the  Sacramentary  of  Gelasius,  A.  D.  491.    Palmer;  who 

24 


278  PRAYER    FOR    PARDON. 

God,  who  according  to  the  multitude  of  thy  mercies,  dost  so 
put  away  the  sins  of  those  who  truly  repent,  that  thou  re- 
memberest  them  no  more." '  To  teach  the  penitent  not  to 
rest  satisfied  with  the  word  of  man,  he  is  said  still  "  most 
earnestly  to  desire  God's  pardon  and  forgiveness.1'  Nor 
does,  he  only  ask  for  mercy,  but  for  grace,  to  "  renew  in  him 
whatever  has  been  decayed"  by  the  temptations  of  Satan,  or 
his  own  corruption.2  We  pray  also  for  this  "  sick  member," 
that  "  he  may  be  preserved  and  continued  in  the  unity  of  the 
Church  ;"3  that  his  repentance  may  be  accepted,4  his  suffer- 
ings relieved,3  his  sins  forgiven,6  his  soul  strengthened  with 
the  Holy  Spirit,7  and  received,  at  last,  into  God's  favour, 
through  the  merits  of  Christ.8 

Nor  must  we  overlook  the  confiding  spirit  of  this  prayer, 
addressed  to  our  "  most  loving  Father,"9  who  "  doth  not  af- 
flict willingly," 10  but  is  himself  "  afflicted  in  all  our  afflic- 
tions." "  This  is  the  breathing  of  the  "  spirit  of  adoption  ;" l2 
such  prayers  ascend  not  in  vain. 

The  130th  Psalm  is  next  repeated,  which  is  well  calcu- 
lated to  exercise  the  faith,  express  the  wants,  support  the 
patience,  and  strengthen  the  confidence  of  the  sick  man,  in 
his  hour  of  trial . 

In  conclusion,  the  Minister  bestows  his  blessing  in  a  most 
solemn  manner,  by  offering  up  three  fervent  prayers.  The 
first  is  addressed  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  "  O  Saviour  of 
the  world,  who  by  thy  cross  and  precious  blood  hast  re- 
observes  that  nearly  all  this  service  is  copied  from  the  old  English  Rituals. 
"In  the  Penitential  of  Ecbert,  Abp.  of  York,  in  the  middle  of  the  eighth 
century,  this  prayer,  with  very  little  variation,  was  one  of  the  ancient  for- 
mularies for  clerical  absolution." — Wheatly. 

1  Psalm  li.  1.  Isaiah  xxxviii.  17  ;  xliii.  25.  Jer  xxxi.  34 ;  1.  '20.  Micah 
vii.  19.    Heb.  viii.  12,  &c. 

2  Psalm  li.  10.     Eph.  iv.  22,  23. 

3  John  xvii.  21.     1  Peter  i.  5.    Jude  24. 

4  Psalm  li.  17.     Isaiah  xxxviii.  5;  Ixvi  2. 

*  Ps.  xli.  3.     Luke  xxii.  41,  42.  6  ps.  xxv,  7.  18.  20  ;  Ixxix.  8. 

7  Eph.  iii.  16.    Col.  i.  11.    Job  xxiii.  6.    Psalm  cxxxviii.  3. 

8  Numb,  xxiii.  10.     Psalm  xvi.  11 :  xxxi.  5.    John  xiv.  2,  3,  <fec. 

9  Psalm  ciii.  13;  cxlv.  9.  i  0  Lam.  iii.  33. 
1 1  Isaiah  lxiii.  9.                                               12  Rom.  viii.  15. 


DANGER    OF    RELAPSE.  279 

deemed  us,"  '  save  us  and  help  us,  we  humbly  beseech  thee, 
O  Lord."  The  second,  to  God  the  Father ;  "  The  Almighty 
Lord,  who  is  a  most  strong  tower  to  all  them  that  put  their 
trust  in  him,  &c."2  He  prays  that  God's  universal  and  par- 
ticular providence  may  be  his  defence;3  and  that  he  "  may 
know  and  feel  that  there  is  no  other  name  under  heaven 
whereby  he  may  be  saved,  but  the  name  of  Jesus."4  The 
third  benediction  is  addressed  to  the  Holy  Trinity,  and  is, 
with  the  exception  of  the  preface,  taken  from  the  form  used 
by  the  High  Priest  in  blessing  the  children  of  Israel.5 

Here  the  Minister  takes  leave  for  the  present,  to  return 
again,  after  a  short  interval,  should  opportunity  be  afforded. 
But,  besides  the  prayers  offered  up  at  the  bedside,  the  Church 
affords  an  opportunity  to  all  her  members  of  engaging  in 
their  behalf,  when  in  sickness,  the  prayers  of  the  whole  con- 
gregation.6 Above  all,  it  is  incumbent  upon  the  sick,  (as 
also  upon  the  healthy,)  to  pray  for  themselves.  No  prayers 
can  stand  in  the  stead  of  our  own.  We  do  but  mock  God, 
by  desiring  the  intercession  of  ethers,  while  we  neglect  to 
seek  him  ourselves. 

And,  if  mercifully  restored  to  health,  let  the  sick  man  re- 
member to  return  thanks  to  God  as  publicly,  as  earnestly, 
and  as  perseveringly  as  he  prayed  for  recovery.  Alas !  it 
may  too  commonly  be  said  with  reference  to  this  matter ; 
"  Were  there  not  ten  cleansed,  but  where  are  the  nine  ?"7 
Professions  of  repentance  on  a  sick  bed  too  often  leave  no 
salutary  influence  upon  the  heart  and  life.  But  let  such  re- 
member that  God  will  not  be  mocked ;  for  every  affliction 
despised,  and  for  every  mercy  abused,  the  sinner  must  ren- 
der an  awful  account.8 

1  John  iv.  42.    Col.  i.  20.     1  Peter  i.  18,  19. 

2  Prov.  xviii.  10.     Nahum  i.  7. 

s  1  Chron.  xxix.  11,  12.    Matt.  x.  29,  30. 

4  Acts  iv.  12,  "receive  health  and  salvation,"  alluding  to  the  ambiguous 
meaning  of  the  word  oaOfivai, 

5  Numb.  vi.  24 — 26.     See  Scott's  Commentary. 

6  See  Appendix  A.  *  See  p.  71. 

s  Luke  xvii.  17.     Psalm  cvii.  17 — 22.    See  p.  71. 
9  Prov.  i.  24—32. 


280  PRAYER  FOR  ONE  IN  DANGER. 

In  addition  to  the  service,  which  we  have  been  consider- 
ing, the  Church  has  provided  us  with  several  forms  of  prayer 
for  particular  occasions.  The  first  is  "  for  a  sick  child." 
And  here  we  may  observe,  that  she  does  not  rest  upon  the 
child's  solemn  dedication  to  God  in  Baptism,  as  if  that  were 
sufficient;  but  specially  commends  it  to  the  Divine  "mercy,' 
imploring  him  to  "  visit  it  with  his  salvation." '  And  en- 
couraged by  the  example  and  success  of  those  parents  whose 
application,  in  behalf  of  their  sick  children,  is  recorded  in 
Scripture  for  our  instruction;2 — she  prays  the  Lord  to  "  de- 
liver him  in  his  good  appointed  time  from  his  bodily  pain, 
and  save  his  soul  for  His  mercies'  sake."3  We  further  ask, 
that,  "  if  it  be  His  pleasure,"  he  would  "  prolong  his  days 
on  earth,"  but  only,  "  that  he  may  live  to  God,  and  be  an 
instrument  of  his  glory."4  "Or  else,"  (how  affecting  the 
alternative  to  a  fond  parent's  heart !)  to  "  receive  him  into 
those  heavenly  habitations,  where  the  souls  of  them  that 
sleep  in  Jesus,  enjoy  perpetual  rest  and  felicity."5  Faith 
triumphs  over  nature  in  this  glorious  prospect,  and  the  Chris- 
tian father  sinks  subdued  into  the  arms  of  sovereign  love ! 

The  second  is  to  be  used  "  where  there  appears  small 
hope  of  recovery."  It  is  conceived  in  a  tone  of  earnest,  yet 
submissive  pleading  with  God.  We  support  the  languishing, 
drooping  spirit  in  the  arms  of  our  faith  and  charity,  and  pre- 
sent it  at  the  footstool  of  the  Throne  of  Grace;6  praying  the 
Lord  to  "  look  graciously  upon  him,"  (as  he  did  upon  many 
of  old,  whom  a  vicarious  faith  thus  recommended  to  his  no- 
tice;7) "and  the  more  the  outward  man  decayeth,"  to 
"  strengthen  him  so  much  the  more  continually  with  his 
Holy  Spirit  in  the  inner  man."8  We  ask  for  him  the  grace 
of  "  unfeigned  repentance,  and  steadfast  faith;9  that  his  sins 

1  Psalm  cvi.  4;  cxix.  41. 

2  Mark  v.  22—24,  35—42.  John  iv.  47—53.  Comp.  Mark  vii.  25—30, 
ix.  17—27.  3  Job  vii.  1.     Psalm  vi.  2,  4. 

4  Psalm  cxvi  9  cxviii.  17.  Lam.  iii,  19—22,  26—29.  2  Cor.  v.  15. 
1  Peter  iv.  1,  2. 

s  John  xiv.  2,  3.    2  Cor.  v.  1.     1  Thess.  iv  14.     Rev.  xiv.  13. 

6  Heb.  iv.  16.     7  Matt.  viii.  5—7.    Mark  ii.  3—12.    See  (4)  above. 

8  2  Cor.  iv.  16.     Eph.  iii.  14,  1G.  9  Acts  XX.  21. 


FOR  THE  AFFLICTED  IN  MIND.  281 

may  be  done  away  by  God's  mercy,  and  his  pardon  sealed 
in  heaven,  before  he  go  hence  and  be  no  more  seen."1 
Lastly,  we  leave  the  issue  in  God's  hands,  but  fervently  im- 
plore that  the  sick  man  may  be  so  "  prepared  for  the  hour 
of  death,  that  after  his  departure  hence  in  peace,  and  in 
God's  favour,  his  soul  may  be  received  into  his  everlasting 
kingdom." 2 

The  last  is  "  for  persons  troubled  in  mind,  or  in  con- 
science." It  is  a  beautiful  prayer,  full  of  the  tenderness  of 
Him  who  "  will  not  break  the  bruised  reed,  nor  quench  the 
smoking  flax."3  It  is  taken,  almost  word  for  word,  from 
holy  Scripture;"4  and  nothing  can  be  conceived  more  cal- 
culated, by  the  Divine  blessing,  to  give  hope  and  encour- 
agement to  the  feeble  and  oppressed  mind  than  such  spiritual 
pleadings.  The  case  before  us  is  a  trying,  and,  alas,  a  too 
common  one ;  but  we  venture  to  recommend  the  frequent 
and  fervent  use  of  this  prayer,  as  a  most  proper  and  scriptu- 
ral remedy.5 

Utterly  repudiating  the  ancient  opinion,  that  the  Lord's 
Supper  is  a  "  Viaticum,"6  or  needful  provision  for  the  soul's 
last  journey ; — and  cordially  approving  of  the  Church's 
caution  against  making  "  of  a  communion,  a  private  eat- 
ing:"7— we  yet  admire  her  moderation  in  allowing  the 
Sacrament  to  be  administered  privately  to  the  sick,  in  a 
small  company  of  Christians.  For  as,  on  the  one  hand,  the 
Popish  notion,  that  a  mere  outward  participation  of  the 
Eucharist,  avails  to  the  pardon  of  sin,  and  making  our  peace 

1  2  Tim.  ii.  19.    Psalm  xxxix.  15. 

2  Isaiah  lvii.  3.    Matt.  xxv.  34.    2  Peter  i.  10,  11. 

3  Isai  xliii.  3.     Matt.  xii.  20. 

4  See  2  Cor.  i.  3.  Isaiah'  lxiii.  15.  Job  xiii.  26.  Psalm  Ixxxviii.  3,  7- 
Rom.  x*.  4.  Heb.  x.  35.  Isaiah  1.  10,  11.  2  Cor.  xii.  9.  Psalm  ciii.  3; 
lxxvii.  9 ;  li.  8 ;  lxiv.  1.     Numb.  vi.  26. 

5  James  v.  13. 

s  See  Bp.  Sparrow,  Wheatly,  and  Bingham's  Antiq.  xv.  iv.  9;  and 
xviii.  iv.  3. 

7  Horn.  xvii.  part  1-  See  also  Rubrics  after  the  Communion  Service, 
and  before  and  after  this  office,  which  require  that  "  two  at  least,"  besides 
the  minister,  should  communicate  with  the  sick  person,  except  in  cases  of 
contagious  disease. 

24  * 


282  THE    COMMUNION    OF    THE    Sine. 

with  God, — is  a  most  dangerous  delusion,1  propping  up 
many  perishing  souls  with  false  confidence  to  their  eternal 
ruin  : — so,  on  the  other,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  for  a  few 
Christian  friends  to  partake,  along  with  the  sick  person,  of 
the  elements  of  Christ's  body  and  blood,  is  a  most  refreshing 
assurance  of  communion  with  Christ  and  with  each  other  ; 
"  to  him  (the  sick  person)  a  singular  great  comfort,  and  of 
their  part  a  great  token  of  charity."2 

But,  lest  any  should  suppose  that  the  Church  held  the 
soul-destroying  notion,  above  alluded  to ; — she  has  carefully 
guarded  her  service  against  such  an  abuse,  in  the  following 
manner : — 

"  If  a  man,  either  by  reason  of  extremity  of  sickness,  or 
for  want  of  warning  in  due  time  to  the  curate,  or  for  lack  of 
company  to  receive  with  him,  or  by  any  other  just  impedi- 
ment, do  not  receive  the  sacrament  of  Christ's  Body  and 
Blood,  the  curate  shall  instruct  him,  that  if  he  do  truly  re- 
pent him  of  his  sins,  and  stedfastly  believe  that  Jesus  Christ 
hath  suffered  death  upon  the  Cross  for  him,  and  shed  his 
blood  for  his  redemption,  earnestly  remembering  the  benefits 
he  hath  thereby,  and  giving  him  hearty  thanks  therefor,  he 
doth  eat  and  drink  the  Body  and  Blood  of  our  Saviour 
Christ  profitably  to  his  Soul's  health,  although  he  do  not 
receieve  the  Sacrament  with  his  mouth.'''' 3 

This  is  a  most  important  testimony,  throwing  a  flood  of 
light,  if  light  were  needed,  on  that  declaration  of  our 
Church ; — "  The  mean  whereby  the  Body  of  Christ  is  re- 
ceived and  eaten  in  the  Supper,  is  Faith."*     This  precious 

1  See  Art.  xxix. 

^  First  Rubric  affixed  to  the  Service  in  King  Edward  Vlth's  first  Prayer 
Book.  The  truth,  or  at  least  the  force  of  this  statement  must  depetid  upon 
its  application.  Mr.  Blunt  has  well  pointed  out  the  danger  of  an  indis- 
criminate use  of  this  sacrament  for  the  sick  and  dying.— Rev.  H.  Blunt's 
Discourses  on  Articles,  p.  215 — 218.  Too  many  need  to  be  alarmed, 
rather  than  comforted,  and  to  offer  the  communion  in  remembrance  of 
Christ  to  such,  would  be,  not  charity,  but  the  utmost  cruelty  ! 

3  Third  Rubric  affixed  to  this  Service.  See  John  vi.  35.  So  in  Man. 
Sarisb.  "  Tantum  crede,  et  manducasti."     Palmer. 

■*  Art.  xxviii. 


CHRIST   RECEIVED    BY    FAITH.  283 

truth  is  thus  beautifully  developed  by  our  Church,  in  her 
Homily  "  concerning  the  Sacrament."  "  Now  it  followeth 
to  have  with  this  knowledge  a  sure  and  constant  faith,  not 
only  that  the  death  of  Christ  is  available  for  the  redemption 
of  all  the  world,  for  the  remission  of  sins,  and  reconciliation 
with  God  the  Father ;  but  also,  that  he  hath  made  upon  his 
cross  a  full  and  sufficient  sacrifice  for  thee  ;  a  perfect  cleans- 
ing of  thy  sins,  so  that  thou  acknowledgest  no  other  Saviour, 
Redeemer,  Mediator,  Advocate,  Intercessor,  but  Christ  only ; 
and  that  thou  mayest  say  with  the  Apostle,  that  he  loved 
thee,  and  gave  himself  for  thee.  For  this  is  to  stick  fast  to 
Christ's  promise  made  in  his  institution ;  to  make  Christ 
thine  own  ;  and  to  apply  his  merits  unto  thyself.  Herein 
thou  needest  no  other  man's  help,  no  other  sacrifice  or  obla- 
tion, no  sacrificing  Priest,  no  mass,  no  means  established 
by  man's  invention.'1'' ' 

The  Church  has  provided  an  appropriate  Collect,  Epistle, 
and  Gospel,  for  the  "  Communion  of  the  Sick."  The  latter 
are  only  single  texts  of  Scripture,  yet  they  contain  a  mass 
of  precious  ore,  which  would  well  repay  the  labour  of  work- 
ing out.  The  Epistle  teaches  us  to  regard  God's  chastise- 
ments as  proofs  of  his  love,  yea  his  severe  corrections  as 
marks  of  his  peculiar  acceptance.2  It  also  warns  us  against 
two  opposite  faults  in  the  misimprovement  of  afflictions ; — 
despising  them,  through  carelessness  or  obstinate  obduracy, 
and  fainting  under  them  through  a  defect  of  faith  and 
patience.  To  animate  us  in  our  r/esistance  of  these  evils, 
the  Gospel  assures  the  believer,  that  he  is  already  in  posses- 
sion of  "  everlasting  life,"3  in  its  clear  title,  and  begun  en- 
joyment ;  he  "  shall  not  come  into  condemnation,"  on  ac- 
count of  past  sin,  or  remaining  infirmity ;  but  is  actually 

1  Horn  xxvii.  p.  1-    See  also  Horn.  xxv.  p.  2. 

2  Heb.  xii.  5.  "Scourgeth,"  f/oo-nyoi.  Dr.  Owen  translates  or  para- 
phrases this  latter  clause,  as  follows :  "  Yea,  even  also  he  severely  chas- 
tiseth,  above  the  ordinary  degree  and  measure,  those  sons  whom  he  accepts 
and  delights  in,  in  a  peculiar  manner."  See  Rom.  v.  3 — 5 ;  viii.  35 — 39. 
1  Cor.  iv.  9—13.    2  Cor.  vi.  4—10 ;  xi.  23—28. 

3  John  v.  24. 


284  EPISTLE    AND    GOSPEL. 

"  passed  from  death  unto  life."  The  Rubicon  which  sepa- 
rates the  two  territories  has  been  crossed  ;  he  is  already  "  in 
the  land  of  the  living."1  Death  is  reduced  to  a  mere 
shadow,2  which  is  scarcely  visible  in  the  surrounding  bright- 
ness. "  The  bitterness  of  death  is  past," — the  believer  has 
no  taste  of  it ; 3  and  its  shaft  is  pointless ;  so  that  he  asks 
triumphantly,  "  O  Death,  where  is  thy  sting?"4 

i  Psalm  xxvii.  13 ;  exliii.  5.  2  Psalm  xxiii.  4.    John  viii.  51. 

3  John  viii.  52.  ■*  i  Cor.  xv.  55. 


APPENDIX. 


A.     [page  279.] 

In  the  first  Liturgy  of  Edward  VI.,  the  unction  of  the  sick  was 
permitted,  rather  than  prescribed,  in  the  following  order : 

IF  "  If  the  sick  person  desire  to  be  anointed,  then  shall  the  Priest  anoint  him 
upon  the  forehead  or  breast  only,  making  the  sign  of  the  cross,  saying  thus, 

As  with  this  visible  oil  thy  body  outwardly  is  anointed :  so  our 
heavenly  Father,  Almighty  God,  grant  of  his  Infinite  goodness, 
that  thy  soul  inwardly  may  be  anointed  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  who 
is  the  Spirit  of  all  strength,  comfort,  relief,  and  gladness :  and 
vouchsafe  for  his  great  mercy  (if  it  be  his  blessed  will)  to  restore 
unto  thee  thy  bodily  health,  and  strength,  to  serve  him  ;  and  send 
thee  release  of  all  thy  pains,  troubles,  and  diseases,  both  in  body 
and  mind.  And  howsoever  his  goodness  (by  his  Divine  and  un- 
searchable providence)  shall  dispose  of  thee  :  we,  his  unworthy 
ministers  and  servants,  humbly  beseech  the  Eternal  Majesty  to  do 
with  thee  according  to  the  multitude  of  his  innumerable  mercies, 
and  to  pardon  thee  all  thy  sins  and  offences,  committed  by  all  thy 
bodily  senses,  passions,  and  carnal  affections  :  who  also  vouch- 
safe mercifully  to  grant  unto  thee  ghostly  strength,  by  his  Holy 
Spirit,  to  withstand  and  overcome  all  temptations  and  assaults  of 
thine  adversary,  that  in  no  wise  he  prevail  against  thee,  but  that 
thou  mayest  have  perfect  victory  and  triumph  against  the  devil,  sin, 
and  death,  through  Christ  our  Lord  :  who  by  his  death  hath  over- 
come the  prince  of  death,  and  with  the  Father,  and  the  Holy  Ghost, 
evermore  liveth  and  reigneth  God,  world  without  end.  Amen." 
Then  followed  Psalm  xiii. 

This  practice,  founded  upon  a  mistaken  view  of  Jas.  v.  14,  15, 
differed  somewhat  from  the  Sacrament  of  Extreme  Unction  held  by 
the  Church  of  Rome,  and  condemned  by  the  Church  of  England, 
in  her  xxvth  Article.  Still  it  was  an  objectionable  relique  of 
Popery,  unsanctioned  by  the  usages  of  Primitive  antiquity ;  and 
was  expunged,  without  regret,  at  the  next  review.  See  Scott's 
Commen.  on  the  above  text;  Bp.  Burnet  on  Art.  xxv. ;  and 
Wheatly. 

235 


CHAPTER    XII. 


BURIAL    OF    THE    DEAD. 


That  a  certain  respect  is  due  to  the  bodies  of  the  dead, 
seems  to  be  a  dictate  of  nature,  which  is  fully  confirmed  by 
the  principles  of  revealed  religion,  as  well  as  the  practice  of 
the  people  of  God,  both  under  the  Old  and  New  Dispensa- 
tions. Thus  we  read,  in  the  Old  Testament,  of  Abraham 
burying  his  wife  Sarah,1  and  again  of  his  own  burial  by  his 
sons  Isaac  and  Ishmael.2  Isaac,  in  like  manner,  was  com- 
mitted to  the  grave  by  both  his  sons,  Jacob  and  Esau  ;3 — 
those  who  had  so  long  been  separated  during  his  lifetime, 
uniting  to  pay  their  last  tribute  of  respect  and  affection  to 
the  memory  of  a  venerable  and  beloved  parent.  Concerning 
Jacob,  we  read,  that  his  funeral  solemnities  were  performed 
with  considerable  pomp,  by  the  command  of  his  son  Joseph:1 
His  body  was  embalmed,  "  and  the  Egyptians  mourned 
for  him  threescore  and  ten  days."  His  remains  were  then 
removed  to  his  family  burying-place  in  Canaan,  followed 
by  a  large  train  of  mourners.  Joseph,  when  dying,  gave  a 
charge  to  the  children  of  Israel  to  bring  up  his  bones  with 
them  out  of  Egypt,  whenever  they  should  return  to  Canaan;5 
and  it  is  probable,  that  the  rest  of  the  patriarchs  also  had 
their  remains  removed  thither.6  In  these  observances  there 
was,  doubtless,  a  reference  to  the  promised  possession  of  the 
land  of  Canaan,  of  which  by  faith  they  claimed  the  inheri- 
tance.    But  the  ancient  believer,  we   are   assured,  looked 

i  Gen.  xxiii.  2,  19.  2  Gen.  xxv.  9.  3  Gen,  xxxv.  29 

4  Gen.  1.  2—13.  5  Gen.  1.  24—26.    Josh  xxiv.  32.    Heb.  xi.  22 

fi  Acts  vii.  15,  16. 
2H6 


REGARD    TO    THE    DEAD.  287 

forward  herein  to  a  better  inheritance  in  the  "  heavenly- 
country,"  of  which  the  earthly  Canaan  was  an  expressive 
type.1 

Neither  is  the  case  altered,  in  this  respect,  under  the  New 
Testament  Dispensation  ;  nor  is  the  care  paid  to  the  remains 
of  the  Christian  believer  without  signification.  The  very 
bodies  of  the  saints  are  deserving  of  respect,  as  having  been 
the  "  temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"2  "  the  instruments  of 
righteousness,"3  "  the  members  of  Christ,"4  and  heirs,  with 
him,  of  the  hope  of  Immortality;  to  be  "fashioned  like  to 
his  glorious  body,"5  at  the  Day  of  Ressurrection.  Not  to 
dwell  upon  the  honourable  notice  taken  of  those,  who  so 
carefully  performed  the  funeral  rites  to  the  dead  Body  of  our 
Blessed  Lord  ;6 — we  read  in  the  New  Testament,  that  when 
Stephen  "  fell  asleep"7  under  the  stones  of  his  murderous 
assailants,  "  the  body  of  the  holy  martyr,  in  which  Christ 
had  gained  a  noble  triumph  for  the  glory  of  his  Gospel, 
was  not  left  cast  out,  and  exposed  to  the  wild  beasts  ;" 8  but 
"  devout  men  carried  him  to  his  burial,  and  made  great 
lamentation  over  him."  By  which  action  they  declared, 
not  only  that  they  were  ready  to  share  with  the  martyr,  in 
the  reproach  and  danger  of  the  cause  for  which  he  suffer- 
ed— but  also  their  belief  of  the  Resurrection  of  the  Body. 

The  same  regard  to  the  dead  animated  the  first  Chris- 

l  Hcb.  xi.  13—16.  2  l  Cor.  vi.  19. 

3  Rom.  vi.  13,  19.  4  i  Cor.  vi.  15. 

5  Phil.  iii.  21.  1  Cor.  xv.  35—54,  also  Rom.  viii.  11.  1  Cor.  vi.  14. 
2  Cor.  iv.  14. 

6  Matt.  xxvi.  12,  13;  xxvii.  57 — Gl.  Luke  xxiii.  55,  56;  xxiv.  1.  John 
xix.  39,  40. 

i  Acts  vii  60,  eKoipridn.  Hence  the  name  ratfojjvjpioi/ — cemetery,  or  place 
of  repose — given  to  a  burying-ground.  This,  it  must  be  observed,  is  the 
frleep  of  the  body,  not  the  soul. 

8  Calvin  on  Acts  viii.  2,  who  adds,  in  the  same  place,  "The  rite  of 
burying  has  respect  to  the  hope  of  the  resurrection,  and  it  was  ordained 
by  God  to  this  end  from  the  beginning  of  the  world.  Wherefore,  this  was 
always  accounted  cruel  barbarism  to  suffer  bodies  to  lie  unburied  willingly. 
Profane  men  did  not  know  why  they  accounted  the  rite  of  burial  so  holy; 
but  we  are  not  ignorant  of  the  end,  namely,  that  the  survivors  may  know, 
that  the  bodies  are  committed  to  the  earth  to  keep  in  custody,  till  they  are 
raised  up  again  from  thence."  Comp.  Aug.  de  Civ.  Dei.  1.  i.  c.  xiii. 


288  CHRISTIAN    BURIAL. 

tians  in  the  next  following  ages ; — and  while  they  reproved 
the  ostentatious  display  of  funeral  pomp,  after  the  manner 
of  the  Heathen  ; '  and  discouraged  the  putting  on  of  mourn- 
ing attire  by  those  who  "  sorrow  not  as  others  which  have 
no  hope ;" 2 — they  were  very  careful  to  bury  their  dead, 
even  at  the  hazard  of  their  lives;3  and  paid  a  degree  of 
honour  to  the  relics  of  the  martyrs,  which  soon  became  ex- 
cessive;  and  was  in  time  the  fruitful  parent  of  many  super- 
stitions.4 There  was,  however,  in  the  thing  itself,  something 
commendable  even  in  the  eyes  of  their  enemies  ;  and  on  this 
account  the  Christians  were  recommended  for  imitation,  by 
the  crafty  Apostate  Julian,  to  the  Heathen  priesthood.5 
Indeed,  that  such  care  of  the  dead  is  proper  and  becoming, 
does  not  admit  of  a  question.  Respecting  the  particular 
rites  and  ceremonies  to  be  used  on  the  occasion,  there  is 
room  for  much  difference  of  opinion.  Some  Christian  com- 
munities, avoiding  the  errors  of  Popery,  have  gone  into  the 
opposite  extreme  of  "  dumb  funerals,"  "  in  the  manner  of 
which,"  as  Hooker  observes,  "  what  one  thing  is  there 
whereby  the  world  may  perceive  we  are  Christian  men?"6 
Our  Church  has  wisely  adopted  a  middle  course  ;  and 
remembering  that,  in  this  matter,  regard  is  to  be  had  "  to 
the  comfort  of  the  living,  rather  than  any  assistance"  that 

1  See  Bingham's  Antiq.  xxiii,  iii.  9,  18,  22. 

2  Thess.  iv.  13.  See  Bingham,  xxiii.  iii.  21,  and  Cyprian  there  quoted. 
See  also  Appendix  A. 

3  See  Bingham's  Antiq.  xxiii.  iii.  1,  who  refers  to  the  well  known  ac- 
count of  the  martyrs  of  Lyons,  given  by  Eusebius,  1.  v.  c  1.  See  Milner's 
History  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  Vol.  i.  p.  387. 

4  Taylor's  Ancient  Christianity,  Vol.  ii.  p.  237,  &c. 
s  See  VVheatly. 

6  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  lxxv.  (4.)  In  the  same  chapter  he  has  these  pertinent 
remarks.  "  The  greatest  thing  of  all  other  about  this  duty  of  Christian 
burial  is  an  outward  testification  of  the  hope  which  we  have  touching  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead.  For  which  purpose  let  any  man  of  reasonable 
judgment  examine,  whether  it  be  more  convenient  for  a  company  of  men, 
as  it  were  in  a  dumb  show  to  bring  a  corpse  to  the  place  of  burial,  there 
to  leave  it  covered  with  earth,  and  so  end,  or  else  to  have  the  exequies  de- 
voutly performed  with  solemn  recital  of  such  lectures,  psalms,  and  prayers, 
as  are  purposely  framed  for  the  slining  up  of  men's  minds  unto  a  careful 
consideration  of  their  estate  both  lieie  and  hereafter." 


BURIAL    SERVICE. SENTENCES.  289 

can  be  afforded  "  to  the  dead ;" '  has  rejected  all  the  super- 
stitious appendages  of  Popish  masses,  and  prayers  for  the 
departed  ;  and  provided,  a  simple,  Scriptural  service,  which, 
if  duly  used, — along  with  such  improvement  of  the  solemn 
occasion,  by  public  and  private  exhortations,  as  circum- 
stances will  admit  of;2 — cannot  fail,  by  God's  blessing,  to 
produce  a  beneficial  effect. 

"  At  the  entrance  of  the  church-yard,"  the  Minister,  and 
his  attendants,  "  meet  the  corpse,  and  going  before  it,  either 
into  the  Church,  or  towards  the  grave,"3  (in  cases  where  it 
is  judged  inexpedient  to  take  the  body  into  the  Church  ;)  the 
Minister  repeats  these  solemn  words  :  "  I  am  the  Resurrec- 
tion and  the  life,  &c." 4  It  is  as  if  we  heard  our  Saviour 
himself  addressing  the  weeping  mourners  ;  and  reanimating 
their  faith,  as  he  did  that  of  the  sisters  of  Lazarus,  lest  they 
should  be  "swallowed  up  with  overmuch  sorrow."5  "I 
am  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life.''''  The  author,  pre- 
server, and  restorer  of  all  natural  life ;  and  the  giver  of 
life  eternal.  By  faith  I  am  made  both  of  these  to  you. 
"  He  that  believeth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead,"  in  the 
body,  "  yet  shall  he  live,"  in  the  spirit,  by  union  with  "  the 
quickening  Spirit  of  the  Second  Adam ;" 6  and  his  body 
shall  be  raised  from  the  grave  when  I  shall  call  for  it ;  as 
a  part  of  my  own  risen  and  glorified  Body.  Look  not, 
then,  at  the  formidable  appearances  of  death ; — behold  in 
me  the  embodied  "  Resurrection,"  and  substantial  "  Life  !" 
By  believing  in  me,  they  are  yours !  Neither  look  now 
for  miracles,  but  believe  my  word.     "  Thy  brother  shall 

1  "  Omnia  ista,  curatio  funeris,  conditio  sepulturas,  pompa  exsequiarum, 
magis  sunt  vivorum  solatia,  quam  subsidia  mortuorum."  Aug.  Civ.  Dei.  I. 
i.  cap.  xii. 

2  See  Hooker's  remarks  on  "  Funeral  Sermons,"  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  75  (3.) 

3  Bingham's  Antiq.  xxiii.  iii.  8.  "What  mean  our  hymns,"  says 
Chrysostom,  "  do  we  not  glorify  God,  and  give  him  thanks,  that  he  hath 
crowned  him  that  is  departed?"  &c.  Horn.  iv.  in  Heb.  See  1  Thess.  iv. 
14.    Rev.  iv.  4,  10. 

4  John  xi.  25,  26.  Instead  of  the  words  "  shall  never  die,"  the  old 
Versions  had,  "  shall  not  die  for  ever"  a  literal  translation  of  the  original 
ov  fir)  a-rcodavri  cig  tov  aicova.  5  2  Cor.  ii.  7. 

6  1  Cor.  xv.  45. 

25 


290  SENTENCES. 

rise  again."  '  Surely  to  the  true  disciple,  these  words  are 
full  of  comfort !  With  the  Psalmist,  he  can  testify — "This 
is  my  comfort  in  my  affliction,  for  thy  word  hath  quick- 
ened me  !"2 

The  noble  expression  of  the  faith  of  the  ancient  Patriarch 
•lob,  is  next  rehearsed  for  our  encouragement  and  example. 
"  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth,  &c."3  Surely  we  may 
re-echo  the  sublime  sentiment,  in  the  language  of  the  Apos- 
tle of  the  Gentiles  ;  "  We  know  that  if  our  earthly  house  of 
this  tabernacle  were  dissolved,  we  have  a  building  of  God,  a 
house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens."4  Our 
kinsman-Redeemer,6  is  "  He  that  liveth,  and  was  dead ;  and 
is  alive  for  evermore ;  and  hath  the  keys  of  hell  and  of 
death."6  "Behold!  he  cometh  with  clouds,  and  every  eye 
shall  see  Him;"7 — "them  also  which  sleep  in  Jesus,  will 
God  bring  with  him."8 

The  third  Sentence,  taken  partly  from   Job,  and  partly 

from  St.  Paul,9  teaches   us   quiet   resignation  to  the  will  of 

God ;  and  not  only  patience,  but  thankfulness,  under  this 

afflictive    dispensation.      "  We    brought   nothing   into    this 

world,  and  it  is  certain  we  can  carry  nothing  out."     Our 

friends  are  not  our  own.     He  gave  them  to  us,  who  now  is 

taking  one  of  them  away.     Let  us  bless  Him  for  the  use  we 

had  of  his  gift,  though  but  for  a  season ;  and  for  the  better 

use  to  which  He  has  now  appropriated  it,  as  "  a  vessel  of 

honour."10     Let  us  rather  rejoice,  than  mourn,  at  his  exalta- 

• 
i  John  xi.  23.  2  Psalm  cxix.  50. 

3  Job  xix.  25—27.  The  old  Translation,  used  in  the  Prayer-Books  of 
King  Edward  VI,  and  till  the  last  Review,  was  very  emphatic.  "I  know 
that  my  Redeemer  liveth;  and  that  I  shall  rise  out  of  the  earth  in  the  last 
day,  and  shall  be  covered  again  with  my  skin,  and  shall  see  God  in  my 
flesh;  yea,  and  I  myself  shall  behold  him,  not  with  other,  but  with  these 
eyes.  4  2  Cor.  v.  1.    Comp.  2  Tim.  i.  12. 

3  btjj  "  The  nearest  of  Kin,  to  whom  the  redemption  of  alienated 
possessions,  and  the  avenging  of  blood,  belonged  by  the  Jewish  law." — 
Gibbs'  Ges.  Lex.  6  Rev.  i.  18.  '  Rev.  i.  7.         8  1  Thess.  iv.  14. 

9  1  Tim.  vi.  7.  Job.  i.  21.  In  the  earlier  editions,  the  latter  part  of 
this  sentence  was  read  as  follows :  "  The  Lord  giveth,  and  the  Lord 
taketh  away.  Even  as  it  pleaseth  the  Lord,  so  cometh  things  to  pass: 
blessed,  &c.''  i  o  2  Tim.  ii.  21. 


PSALMS.  291 

tion  to  a  higher  state  of  existence  ;  and  think  of  the  satisfac- 
tion with  which  the  Lord  welcomes  home  again  one  of  those 
concerning  whom  he  prayed,  "  Father,  I  will  that  they  whom 
thou  hast  given  me,  be  with  me  where  I  am,  that  they  may 
behold  my  glory."1 

In  the  same  spirit,  the  Church  has  generally  used 
Psalmody  as  a  part  of  her  Burial  Services.2  On  this  occa- 
sion, therefore,  we  read  portions  of  the  xxxixth  and  xcth 
Psalms.  The  former  contains  a  remarkable  example  of 
self-control,  in  the  person  of  the  afflicted  Psalmist;3  and 
teaches  us  how  to  bridle  our  passions,  under  such  inward 
commotions,  into  a  patient  submission  to  the  will  of  God : — 
namely,  by  meditation  on  the  shortness  of  life,4  and  justice 
of  God's  awful  judgments  ;5  and  by  prayer.6 

The  latter  is  ascribed  to  Moses,  when,  in  the  wilderness, 
he  beheld  the  awful  waste  of  human  life  by  the  judgments 
of  the  Almighty.7  It  sets  before  us  very  strikingly  the  be- 
liever's confidence  in  God ; 8  the  eternity  of  whose  existence 
is  finely  contrasted  with  the  short  span  of  human  life:9 — 
shows  us  how  the  results  of  his  wrath  are  misery  and 
death  ; 10 — and  concludes  with  a  prayer  that  we  may  learn 
to  improve  these  considerations  ;  and  take  such  a  wise  esti- 
mate of  the  value  of  our  time,  as  to  make  a  right  use  of 
every  day; u — so  that  we  may  live  long  in  a  little  time  ,• — 
and  by  the  redemption12  of  a  few  years  of  vanity  and  sor- 
row, prepare  the  way,  by  Divine  grace  and  mercy,  for  an 
eternity  of  blessedness.13 

The  Psalms  are  followed  by  that  sublime  Lesson  on  the 
Resurrection,  contained  in  the  xvth  chapter  of  the  First 

1  John  xvii.  24. 

2  Bingham's  Antiq.  xxii.  iii.  11.  In  the  first  Prayer-Book  of  King 
Edward  VI.,  instead  of  these  Psalms,  the  cxvith,  cxxxixth,  and  cxlvith 
were  used.  At  the  next  Review,  these  were  omitted,  and  the  present 
Psalms  were  not  inserted  till  the  Restoration. 

3  Psalm  xxxix.  1 — 3.  4  Verses  4—7.  5  Verses  9—11. 
6  Verses  12,  13.                      7  Psalm  xc.    Title.  8  Verses  1,  2. 
9  Verses  2—6.                       l  o  Verses  7—11. 

1 1  Psalm  xc.  12.  "  O  teach  us" — seems  to  be  an  error  of  the  press  for 
"  So  teach,"  &c.  i  2  Eph.  v.  16.  1 3  Verses  13—17. 


292  LESSON. 

Epistle  to  the  Corinthians ;  than  which  nothing  more  so- 
lemn, impressive,  and  suitable  to  the  occasion,  can  possibly 
be  conceived.  The  Apostle  traces  the  Resurrection  of  the 
Saints  to  that  of  Christ,  as  inseparably  connected  with  it ; ' — 
answers  objections  against  the  general  doctrine;2 — enlarges 
upon  the  glorious  change  which  shall  take  place  in  the  risen 
body;3 — then,  warming  in  his  heavenly  theme,  challenges 
and  triumphs  over  death  and  the  grave;4 — and  concludes 
with  an  animated  exhortation  to  steady  perseverance  in  "  the 
work  of  the  Lord."5 

When  the  funeral  procession  is  come  to  the  grave,  and 
while  the  coffin  is  preparing  to  be  lowered  into  its  bed  of 
rest,  the  Minister  recites,  in  a  solemn  manner,  the  following 
impressive  words. 

"  Man  that  is  born  of  a  woman,"  &c.  The  first  sentence 
is  a  quotation  from  an  old  version  of  the  Book  of  Job.6  It 
expresses,  by  a  natural,  and  affecting,  though  common,  em- 
blem, the  frailty  of  human  life. 

How  weighty  are  the  words  which  follow ;  so  much  so, 
that  we  almost  mistake  them  for  a  quotation  from  the  in- 
spired Word  of  God ! — "  In  the  midst  of  life  we  are  in 
death." 7  We  feel  that,  in  this  world,  we  have  no  resting- 
place  ;  and  cast  ourselves  upon  the  mercy  of  an  offended 
God,  as  our  only  refuge.8 

With  earnest  pleadings  we  implore  for  ourselves,  (not  for 
the  dead,  who  are  beyond  the  reach  of  mercy ; 9)  that  wo 
may  be  delivered  from  "  the  bitter  pains  of  eternal  death."  I0 

Lastly,  we  throw  open  our  hearts  to  God,  who  knows  all 
our  secret  sins,  and  sorrows,  and  desires ; " — and  entreat 
him  to  spare  us,  most  fervently  imploring  him  not  to  "  suffer 
us,  at  our  last  hour,  for  any  pains  of  death,"  (or  through  the 
sufferings  and  terrors  of  the  last  conflict,)  "  to  fall"  away 

i  Cor.  xv.  20—23.  2  ibid.  35—49.  3  Ibid.  50—53. 

*  Ibid.  54—57.  5  ibid.  58. 

s  Job  xiv.  1,  2.    Pomp.  Psalm  ciii.  15,  16.    Isaiah  xl.  5—8,  &c. 

t  1  Sam.  xx.  3.  8  Hosea  xiii.  9.  9  Eccles  xi.  3. 

I  o  Isaiah  xxxiii.  14     Rev.  xxi.  8. 

I I  Psalm  xxxviii.  9.    Acts  i.  24.    Heb.  iv.  13. 


LANGUAGE    OF    CHARITV.  293 

"from  him;"' — let  go  our  confidence,  and  dishonour  our 
Christian  profession. 

The  body  is  now  introduced  to  its  narrow  house,  the 
"long  home"2  of  the  dead;  and  the  weeping  mourners 
crowd  around  the  grave,  peering  into  its  dark  recess,  to 
take  a  last  leave  of  their  departed  Friend.  How  affecting 
and  solemn  is  the  crisis,  when  the  Minister  of  God,  stand- 
ing calmly  in  the  midst  of  the  sable-clad  mourners,  utters 
those  touching  words  :  "  Forasmuch  as  it  hath  pleased  Al- 
mighty God,  &c."  The  language  used  evidently  belongs 
to  the  righteous ; — who  were  made  in  their  Baptism, 
"members  of  Christ,  children  of  God,  and  inheritors  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven."  3  Such  only  are,  properly  speaking, 
"  dear  brethren  ;" 4  such  only  "  God,  of  his  great  mercy, 
takes  to  himself,"  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  words.5  But  as 
all  spiritual  forms  must  be  used  with  a  charitable  liberty 
of  expression  ; — as  even  the  word  of  God  was  penned  in  a 
similar  manner  ; fi — we  may  not  think  harshly  of  our  mo- 
ther the  Church,  because  she  has  spoken  thus  assuredly  of 
all  her  children,  though  too  many  of  them  may  be  unwor- 
thy of  her  hopes.  Faith  will  teach  us  to  improve  the  ex» 
pressiqns  here  used,  as  shadowing  forth  the  blessedness  of 
the  "  death  of  the  righteous  ;" 7  and  will  rouse  us  to  fresh 
exertions  to  "  make  our  calling  and  election  sure;* — that 
there  may  be  no  painful  uncertainty  in  our  case,  but  that 
our  "  latter  end  may  be  like  his ;" — "  an  entrance  being 
ministered  unto  us  abundantly  into  the  everlasting  king, 
dom." 

While  the  Priest  says, — "  We  commit  his  body  to  the 

1  Psalm  cxvi.  3.  1  Cor.  x,  12,  13,  See  Horn.  viii.  "  On  falling  from 
God."  A  danger  always  to  be  guarded  against,  but  especially  in  times  of 
persecution,  when  many  fall  away  from  the  faith  through  fear  of  a  violent 
death;  and  in  long  and  painful  diseases,  when  unstable  souls  are  tempted 
to  have  recourse  to  false  hopes,  and  refuges  of  lies.  See  2  Chron.  xvi.  12. 
Job  xiii.  4.    See  also  Horn.  ix.    "  Fear  of  Death."  2  Eccles.  xii.  5. 

3  Catechism.  4  Plul.  iv.  1. 

*  Isaiah  lvii  1,  2.  John  xiv.  3.  Some,  however,  take  words  in  a  lower 
sense,  a.s  in  Eccles.  xii.  7.  6  See  p  2. 

7  Numb,  xxiii.  10.  s  %  peter  i.  10. 

25* 


294  COMMUNION    WITH    DEPARTED    SAINTS. 

ground;  earth  to  earth,  ashes  to  ashes,  dust  to  dust;'" — an 
attendant  throws  some  earth  down  upon  the  body;2  whose 
hard  clods  rattling  upon  the  hollow  coffin-lid,  startle  the 
ear,  and  give  a  sensible  testimony  of  the  reality  of  death. 

Next  follow  those  consolatory  words  from  the  Vision  of 
St.  John.  "  I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying  unto  me, 
Write,  From  henceforth  blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in 
the  Lord,"  &c.3 — a  Divine  testimony  against  the  doctrine  of 
Purgatory,  and  a  clear  proof  that  we  ought  not  to  pray  for 
the  dead,  who  are  "  blessed'''  already.* 

In  the  following  prayer,  we  express  our  belief,  that  the 
spirits  of  those  that  die  in  the  Lord,  live  with  God  in  the 
present  enjoyment  of  happiness;5  though  not  in  so  exalted 
a  state  of  complete  felicity,  as  they  shall  be  raised  to,  after 
reunion  with  their  glorified  bodies.6  We,  therefore,  give  God 
thanks,  "  for  the  good  examples  of  all  those  thy  servants, 
who,  having  finished  their  course  in  faith,  do  now  rest  from 
their  labours."  At  the  same  time,  looking  forward  to  their 
perfect  consummation  in  glory,  we  beseech  God,  "  that  we, 
with  all  departed  in  the  true  faith,  may  have  our  perfect 
consummation  and  bliss,  both  in  body  and  soul,  in  his  eternal 
and  everlasting  glory."7  Herein  the  Church  militant  ex- 
presses its  communion  with  the  Church  triumphant ;  both 
are  waiting  for  the  coming  of  Christ.  "  The  souls  under  the 
altar"  are  "  crying,"  as  well  as  ourselves,  "  How  long  ?" — 
Yet  "  a  little  season"  they  are  bidden  to  "  rest,  until  their 
brethren  are  fulfilled."8     But  they  are  not  asleep,  in  a  sense- 

1  Gen.  iii.  19 ;  xviii.  27. 

2  "  Injecto  ter  pulvere,"  Hor.  Od.  i.  xxviii.  35.  In  the  First  Book  of 
King  Edward  VI..  the  Rubric  directs  the  Priest  to  cast  earth  upon  the 
corpse,  saying, — "  I  commend  thy  soul  to  God  the  Father  Almighty,  and 
thy  body  to  the  ground,"  &c.  the  first  part  being  added  in  the  Second  Book. 

3  Rev.  xiv.  13.  4  See  Appendix  B. 

5  Luke  xx.  38 ;  xxiii.  43 ;  also  xvi.  22.    2  Cor.  v.  8. 

6  John  xiv.  3.  1  Cor.  xv.  19,  20,  54—58.  1  Thess.  iv.  17.  2  Tim.  iv.  1,  8. 
1  Peter  i.  4,  5,  &c.  »  Matt.  vi.  10.     Rev.  xxii.  17,  20. 

8  Rev.  vi.  9 — 11.  "  If  they  cry  for  vengeance  on  the  persecuting  world, 
shall  we  suppose  they  have  no  consideration  of  the  state  of  the  Church 
suffering  the  same  things  which  ihey  did  themselves?" — Dr.  Owen  "On  the 
Person  of  Christ."     1679.  pp,  350,  365. 


LANGUAGE    OF    HOPE.  295 

less  state ;  without  enjoyment  in  their  nearer  access  to  God 
and  the  Lamh,  or  without  interest  in  the  gathering  in  of 
God's  elect  children  still  upon  earth ; — "  without  whom," 
they  know  that  "  they  shall  not  be  made"  absolutely 
"  perfect." ' 

The  rest  of  the  Blessed  spirits  "made  perfect"2  in  holi- 
ness, is  glorious ;  but  still  more  glorious  shall  be  their  "  per- 
fect consummation  and  bliss,  both  in  body  and  soul,  in  God's 
eternal  glory!"3  This  will  not  be  complete  till  the  Resur- 
rection of  the  former ;  and  for  this  we  unite  our  intercessions. 
If  any  accuse  us  of  praying  for  the  dead,  we  are  not 
ashamed,  in  this  sense,  to  plead  guilty  to  the  charge;4  as- 
sured, that  in  any  other,  they  can  find  no  accusation  of  this 
sort  against  our  Reformed  Church,  whose  simple  piety  we 
love,  and  thankfully  imitate. 

In  the  Collect,  which  follows,  we  are  taught  "  not  to  be 
sorry  as  men  without  hope,  for  them  that  sleep  in  Jesus."5 
Christianity  does  not  forbid,  but  moderate,  our  grief.  "  Jesus 
wept,"6  and  so  may  we,  at  the  loss  of  our  friends.  But  let 
us  not  forget  the  end  of  these  visitations,  namely,  to  be  pre- 
pared to  follow  those  who  are  gone  before  to  glory.  We 
therefore,  pray,  that  God  would  "  raise  us  from  the  death  of 
sin  unto  the  life  of  righteousness  :  that,  when  we  shall  depart 
this  life,  we  may  rest  in  Jesus,  as  our  hope  is  this  our 
brother  doth."7 

Do  we  then  declare,  that  all  over  whom  these  words  are 
used,  are  resting  with  Christ  1 — God  forbid  !  The  Church 
passes  no  sentence  respecting  the  state  of  the  departed.8  On 
the  contrary,  she  has  clearly  shown  her  meaning  to  be  that 

i  Heb.  xi.  40.  2  Heb.  xii.  23.    Rev.  vii.  14—17. 

3  Phil.  iii.  20,  21.     1  John  iii.  2.     Rev.  xxii.  1—5. 

4  From  the  Second  Prayer-Book  of  Edward  VI.,  to  the  last  Review, 
this  clause  ran  thus;  "that  we  with  this  our  brother,  and  all  other  de- 
parted," &c.  The  Church  having  now  cleared  her  words  of  any  appear- 
ance of  particular  intercession  for  the  departed,  by  omitting  that  clause, 
we  are  not  careful  to  rebut  the  charge  in  any  other  view. 

5  1  Thess.  iv.  13,  14.   See  App.  C.        6  John  xi.  35.   Comp.  Acts  viii  2 

7  Eph.  ii.  1—5.    Heb.  iv.  3.  9.     Rev.  xiv.  13. 

8  Rom.  xiv.  4.     Matt.  vii.  1. 


296  WARNING    TO    IMPENITENT. 

only  those  that  "  die  in  the  Lord''''  are  "  blessed,"  not  ali 
that  die  in  her  communion.  Though  we  are  to  "  speak  and 
hope  the  best" '  of  every  individual  member  of  her  body,  we 
dare  not  deceive  any.  This  very  prayer  is  expressly  against 
such  a  delusion.  When  we  desire  that  we  may  be  "  raised 
from  the  death  of  sin  to  the  life  of  righteousness"  here ; — 
does  it  not  imply,  that,  without  this,  we  cannot  hope  to  be 
raised  to  the  life  of  glory  hereafter  ?  "  Without  holiness  no 
man  shall  see  the  Lord."2  Therefore  we  further  pray,  that 
"  at  the  general  Resm-rection  in  the  last  day  we  may  be 
found  acceptable  in  God's  sight;3  and  receive  that  blessing 
which  his  well-beloved  Son  shall  then  pronounce  to  all  that 
love  and  fear  God,  saying,  Come,  ye  blessed  children,"4  &c. 
Here  can  be  no  mistake,  without  wilful  blindness  and  obdu- 
racy. Heaven  would  be  no  heaven  to  those  who  do  not 
"  love  and  fear  God."  Let  the  unbelieving  and  impenitent 
hear  this,  and  tremble,  and  "  flee  from  the  wrath  "5  impend- 
ing over  them.  Otherwise  they  must  hear  those  awful 
words,  penetrating  the  soul,  like  a  flash  of  lightning  from 
heaven,  "  Depart  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire,  prepared 
for  the  Devil  and  his  angels." 6  Sinner  repent,  and  be 
saved  !  Or  to-morrow  thy  doom  may  be  sealed  by  death  ; 
and  while  friends  are  trying  to  hope  the  best  concerning 
thee,  thou  mayest  be  writhing  in  chains  of  torment,  awaiting 
the  judgment  of  the  great  day  of  account,7  when  thou  shalt 
as  certainly  "  go  away  into  everlasting  punishment,"  as 
"  the  righteous"  shall  enter  into  "  life  eternal."  8 

The  service  closes  with  the  Benediction,9  very  properly 
added  at  the  last  Review.  May  we  go  home,  to  live  as  we 
have  prayed !  Not  to  plunge  again  into  the  world,  and  to 
become  tenfold  more  earthly-minded  than  ever  ;  and  after 
our  hearts  have  been  somewhat  softened  by  the  scenes  of 
mortality  we  have  witnessed,  to  freeze  them  up  again  with 

i  Dean  Comber.  See  1  Cor.  xiii.  5, 7. 

2  Heb.  xii.  14.  3  2  Cor.  v.  9,  10. 

4  Matt.  xxv.  34.  See  1  Cor.  ii.  9.    James  i.  12    Psalmciii.il. 

5  Matt.  iii.  7.  6  Matt.  xxv.  41.  1  2  Peter  ii.  4. 

8  Matt.  xxv.  46.  9  2  Cor.  xiii.  14. 


CONCLUSION.  297 

selfishness  and  sin  till  they  become  harder  than  the  nether 
millstone.1  What  infatuation  is  this! — But,  alas  !  it  is  the 
awful  case  of  multitudes.  Be  it  ours,  then,  to  watch,  and 
pray,  and  prepare  daily  for  our  final  account ; — remember- 
ing that  the  bell  may  soon  toll  for  us  ; — and  the  next  funeral 
that  passes  slowly  along  the  church-yard  path  may  possibly 
be  our  own! 

Uobxli  24. 


APPENDIX. 


A.  [page  288.] 

On  giving  mourning  at  funerals  there  are  some  curious  and  in- 
structive remarks  in  Becon's  "  Sick  Man's  Salve."  Parker  Soc. 
Ed.  pp.  120 — 125.  The  subject  is  important  and  difficult;  and 
the  evil,  which  is  widely  felt,  must  be  met,  if  at  all,  by  earnest  and 
persevering  appeals  to  the  Christian  public.  How  hard  is  it  that 
a  defenceless  female,  (or  even  one  of  the  stronger  sex,  when 
depressed  by  domestic  trial,)  should  be  thrown,  at  such  a  time, 
upon  the  mercy  of  a  tradesman,  whose  interest  is  enlisted  on  the 
side  of  expense,  which  a  corrupt  custom  has  sanctioned,  under 
the  pretence  of  showing  respect  to  the  deceased.  Even  if  he  has 
the  straight-forward  honesty,  can  he  be  expected  to  possess  the 
strength  of  mind,  and  disregard  of  public  opinion,  required  on 
such  an  occasion  ?  We  do  not  object  to  the  attendance  of  friends, 
at  funerals,  in  decent  mourning.  Far  otherwise,  But  we  think 
that  the  expense  of  that  mourning  is  very  improperly  placed, 
when  it  is  made  to  press  heavily  upon  the  bereaved;  thus  increas- 
ing their  difficulties,  and  augmenting  their  sorrow.  But  the  whole 
system  of  mourning,  and  funerals,  requires  revision,  and  stringent 
reform. 

B.  [page  294.] 

In  the  first  edition  of  the  Burial  Service,  there  were  several 
prayers  for  the  dead,  though  without  any  reference  to  the  present 
state  of  their  souk.  The  following  was  the  original  order  of  the 
service,  from  this  point. 

"  Let  us  pray. 
"  We  commend  into  thy  hands  of  mercy,  most  merciful  Father, 

298 


APPENDIX.  299 

the  soul  of  this  our  brother  departed,  N.  And  his  body  we  commit 
to  the  earth,  beseeching  thine  infinite  goodness,  to  give  us  grace 
to  live  in  thy  fear  and  love,  and  to  die  in  thy  favour:  that  when 
the  judgment  shall  come,  which  thou  hast  committed  to  thy  well- 
beloved  Son,  both  this  our  brother,  and  we,  may  be  found  accept- 
able in  thy  sight,  and  receive  that  blessing,  &c."  (as  in  the  con- 
cluding Collect) — "  Grant  this,  merciful  Father,  for  the  honour  of 
Jesu  Christ,  our  only  Saviour,  Mediator,  and  Advocate.    Amen." 

This  prayer  shall  also  be  added. 
"  Almighty  God,  we  give  thee  hearty  thanks  for  this  thy  servant, 
whom  thou  hast  delivered  from  the  miseries  of  this  wretched 
world,  from  the  body  of  death  and  all  temptation ;  and,  as  we 
trust,  hast  brought  his  soul,  which  he  committed  into  thy  holy 
hands,  into  sure  consolation  and  rest.  Grant,  we  beseech  thee, 
that  at  the  day  of  judgment  his  soul,  and  all  the  souls  of  thy  elect, 
departed  out  of  this  life,  may  with  us,  and  we  with  them,  fully 
receive  thy  promises,  and  be  made  perfect  altogether;  through 
the  glorious  resurrection  of  thy  Son  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord." 

These  Psalms  with  other  suffrages  following,  are  to  be  said  in  the  Church, 
either  before  or  after  the  burial  of  the  corpse. 

Psalm  cxvi.   cxxxix.   cxlvi. 
Then  shall  follow  this  lesson,  taken  out  of 

1  Cor.  xv.  (20  to  end.) 
The  lesson  ended,  then  shall  the  Priest  say, 
Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us. 
Christ  have  mercy  upon  us. 

&c.  &c. 

1  Our  Father,  &c. 
And  lead  us  not  into  temptation. 
Ans.    But  deliver  us  from  evil.     Amen. 

Priest.  Enter  not  (O  Lord)  into  judgment  with  thy  servant. 

Answer.  For  in  thy  sight  no  living  creature  shall  be  justified. 

Priest.  From  the  gates  of  hell. 

Answer.  Deliver  their  souls,  O  Lord. 

Priest.  I  believe  to  see  the  goodness  of  the  Lord. 

Answer.  In  the  land  of  the  living. 

Priest.  O  Lord,  graciously  hear  my  prayer. 

Answer.  And  let  my  cry  come  unto  thee. 

Let  us  pray. 
O  Lord,  with  whom  do  live  the  spirits  of  them  that  be  dead,  and 
in  whom  the  souls  of  them  that  be  elected,  after  they  be  delivered 
from  the  burden  of  the  flesh  be  in  joy  and  felicity :     Grant  unto 


300  APPENDIX. 

this  thy  servant,  that  the  sins  which  he  committed  in  this  world  be 
not  imputed  unto  him,  but  that  he,  escaping  the  gates  of  hell,  and 
pains  of  eternal  dark?iess,  may  ever  dwell  in  the  region  of  light, 
with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  in  the  place  where  is  no  weep- 
ing, sorrow,  nor  heaviness  ;  and  when  that  dreadful  day  of  the  gene- 
ral resurrection  shall  come,  make  him  to  rise  with  the  just  and  right- 
eous, and  receive  this  body  again  to  glory,  then  made  pure  and  incor- 
ruptible .-  set  him  on  the  right  hand  of  thy  S071  Jesus  Christ,  among 
thy  holy  and  elect,  that  then  he  may  hear  with  them  these  most  sweet 
and  comfortable  words : — Come  to  me,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father, 
possess  the  kingdom  which  hath  been  prepared  for  you  from  the 
beginning  of  the  world.  Grant  this,  we  beseech  thee,  O  mer- 
ciful Father,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Mediator  and  Redeemer. 
Amen. 

Or    [page  295.] 

The  Collect  originally  belonged  to  the  order  for  "  the  celebration 
of  the  Holy  Communion  when  there  is  a  burial,  &c,"  which 
appeared  in  the  first  Prayer  Book  of  Edward  VI.  as  follows : — 

"  Psalm  xlii. 

Collect 
"  0  merciful  God,  the  Father,  &c."  (as  in  the  present  Collect,) 
"  and  at  the  general  resurrection  in  the  last  day  both  we  and  this 
our  brother  departed,  receiving  again  our  bodies,  and  rising  again 
in  thy  most  gracious  favour,  may  with  all  thine  elect  Saints  obtain 
eternal  joy.  Grant  this,  O  Lord  God,  by  the  means  of  our  Advo- 
cate Jesus  Christ;  which  with  thee  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  liveth 
and  reigneth  one  God  for  ever.    Amen." 

The  Epistle.     1  Thess.  iv.  (v.  13  to  end.) 
1  The  Gospel.    John  vi.  (v.  37  to  40.) 

This  custom,  of  receiving  the  Eucharist  at  a  burial,  though 
very  ancient,  and  innocent,  and  capable  of  being  improved  to  the 
spiritual  refreshment  and  consolation  of  the  mourners,  was  yet, 
we  think,  wisely  done  away,  considering  the  false  doctrines  which 
Popery  had  engrafted  upon  it,  and  how  exceedingly  liable  it  was 
to  superstitious  abuse.    See  Bingham's  Antiq.  xxiii.  iii.  12. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 


CHURCHING. PRAYERS    AT    SEA. 


CHURCHING. 

"The  Thanksgiving  of  women  after  Childbirth"  seems  to 
have  some  relationship  to  the  Levitical  purification  ; '  not, 
indeed,  as  conveying  any  idea  of  previous  unholiness,2  but 
merely  a  reference  to  the  primeval  curse,  and  an  acknow- 
ledgment of  the  remedial  blessing. 

The  fall  of  our  first  parents  brought  pain  and  death  into 
the  world,  and  made  the  means  of  its  replenishment  the 
source  of  sorrow  to  the  mothers  of  our  race.3  The  manner 
in  which  the  pains  of  female  travail  are  frequently  alluded 
to  in  Scripture,  implies  their  peculiar  severity  ;4  although, 
by  virtue  of  a  special  promise  made  to  that  effect,5  they  are 
not  so  commonly  attended  with  dangerous  and  fatal  results 
as  other  less  critical  afflictions.  But  surely  no  right-minded 
person  can  dispute  the  propriety  of  a  special  acknowledg- 
ment, on  the  occasion  of  such  a  special  mercy,  when  so 
great  sorrow  has  been  turned  into  such  exuberant  joy.6 

This  service  is  commonly  called  "  Churching ;"  not  that 
the  woman  was  previously  excluded  from  the  Church  by 
ceremonial  impurity,  but  because  the  Church  is  the  proper 

1  Lev.  xii.  6,  7.  Comp.  Luke  ii.  22 — 24.  The  old  title  of  this  service  in 
the  First  Prayer  Book,  was  "  The  order  of  the  Purification  of  Women." 

2  See  Hooker's  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  74.  (2.)  also  Gregory  the  Great's  answers  to 
Austin  the  monk.    Bede's  Ecc.  Hist.  1.  i.  c.  27.  3  Gen.  iii.  16. 

4  Psalm  xlviii.  6.     Isaiah  xiii.  8;  xxi.  3.    Hosea  xiii.  13. 

5  1  Tim.  ii.  15.  Some,  however,  take  it  in  another  sense.  See  p.  303.  (6.) 

6  John  xvi.  21. 

26  (301) 


302  SERVICE    OF    THANKSGIVING. 

place  in  which  to  return  public  thanks  to  God  for  so  signal 
a  deliverance.1 

It  opens  with  a  suitable  address,  reminding  the  woman 
of  the  goodness  of  Almighty  God  in  "  preserving  her  from 
the  great  danger  of  child-birth,"  and  calling  upon  her  to 
join,  with  heart  and  voice,  in  repeating  an  appropriate 
Psalm  of  thanksgiving.2 

The  cxvith  Psalm  is  very  proper  for  this  occasion  ; 3  as 
expressing  the  Psalmist's  gratitude  for  deliverance  from  the 
deepest  distress,4  and  recording  his  vows  of  thankfulness, 
and  resolutions  of  serving  God  the  remainder  of  his  days;5 
as  well  as  of  rendering  public  acknowledgment  for  his  past 
mercies.6 

The  Psalm  is  followed  by  Prayer.  First  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  and  the  Responses  before  reviewed  ; 7  lastly 
a  Thanksgiving  Prayer,  returning  thanks  for  God's 
mercy,  and  imploring  his  grace,  to  enable  his  servant  to 
"  walk  according  to  his  will  in  this  life,"  that  she  may  be 
a  "  partaker  of  everlasting  glory  in  the  life  to  come."8        » 

The  concluding  Rubric  requires  the  woman  to  bring 
"  the  accustomed  offerings,"  as  a  substantial  proof  of  her 
thankfulness  to  God,  and  good-will  to  his  Ministers  :  the 
amount  of  which  should  be  in  some  proportion  to  the  means 

1  Psalm  xxii  22,  25.  Comp.  Heb.  ii.  12.  Psalm  xxxv.  18 ;  xl.  9,  10. 
cxvi.  14.    This  shows  the  glaring  impropriety  of  a  private  churching ! 

2  In  the  First  Prayer  Book,  the  Rubric  prefixed  directed  the  woman  to 
"  kneel  down  in  some  convenient  place,  nigh  unto  the  quire  door;  and  the 
priest  standing  by  her  shall  say  these  words,  or  such  like,  as  the  case  shall 
require ,->'  which  latter  clause  seems  to  have  been  inserted  with  reference  to 
these  words  in  the  following  address ;  "  Forasmuch  as  it  hath  pleased,  &c. 
to  give  you  safe  deliverance,  and  your  child  baptism.' 

3  In  the  First  Prayer  Book,  Psalm  cxxi-  was  appointed,  which  continued 
the  only  one  o  be  used,  on  this  occasion,  till  the  last  Review. 

4  Psalm  cxvi.  1 — 8.  The  Prayer-Book  version  is  used  with  the  excep- 
tion of  verse  4,  where  the  Bible  version  is  substituted  as  more  appropriate. 

s  Verses  9,  12—14. 

6  Verses  13,  14,  19.    Verses  15 — 18,  are  omitted,  as  unsuitable. 

7  One  of  the  Responses — "Who  putteth  her  trust  in  thee;"  clearly  im- 
plies the  piety  of  the  worshipper,  in  consistency  with  the  spiritual  character 
of  all  the  services  of  thfc  church. 

s  Psa.  lxxiii.  24. 


THE    OFFERINGS.  303 

of  the  offerer.1  At  the  same  time  she  is  reminded  that  «  it 
is  convenient  that  she  receive  the  holy  Communion"  at  the 
first  opportunity. 

The  Church  has  thus  marked  her  sense  of  the  deep  im- 
portance of  this  opportunity  of  renewing  the  religious  vows 
of  her  believing  daughters,  the  sinful  neglect  of  which  must 
entail  an  awful  load  of  guilt  on  the  careless  offenders.  How 
many,  on  the  other  hand,  have  had  cause  to  bless  God  for 
the  sorrows  and  seclusion  of  their  confinement,  when  He 
has  called  them  aside  from  the  throng  of  daily  care,  to 
speak  to  them  personally  on  the  concerns  of  their  souls  ! 
How  has  He  thus  brought  their  past  "  sins  to  remem- 
brance," 2  humbled  them  under  a  sense  of  their  original 
transgression,  and  daily  offences  ;  and  thus  led  them  to  that 
Saviour  who  was  "  born  of  a  woman." 3  Thus  "  sorrow 
has  been  turned  into  joy,"  4  and  the  curse  of  Eve  has  be- 
come to  them  a  blessing.5  Thus  they  "  shall  be  saved 
through  child-bearing,  if  they  continue  in  faith  and  charity, 
and  holiness  with  sobriety."6 

PRAYERS  AT  SEA. 

The  "  Forms  of  Prayer  to  be  used  at  Sea,"  were  added 
at  the  last  Review,  and  consist  of  daily  prayers  for  ships 
of  war,  and  occasional  prayers  and  thanksgivings  to  be 
used  in  storms,  and  before  engagements,  and  after  deliver- 
ance from  these   dangers ;   along  with   short   prayers   for 

1  See  Lev.  xii.  6, 8.  The  First  Prayer-Book  required  also  the  "  Chrisom" 
to  be  brought;  for  an  account  of  which,  see  p.  229.  Bucer,  in  his  censure 
on  this  place,  suggested  that  all  the  offerings  should  be  given  to  the  poor ;  and 
adds — "It  is  fitting  that  no  ground  should  be  given  to  the  people  of  con- 
tracting their  liberality,  from  any  appearance  of  covetousness  in  the  min- 
isters, and  of  mercenary  administration  of  sacred  things."  A  suggestion, 
which,  if  carried  out,  would  tend  much  to  the  edification  of  the  Church  of 
Christ.    See  Scrip.  Ang.  p.  490. 

2  1  Kings  xvii.  18.  3  John  xvi.  20. 
4  Gal.  iv.  4.    yevofuvov,  •'  made,"  aliter  yewco/ievov,  "  born." 
s  Gen.  iii.  16. 

6  1  Tim.  ii.  15.  iia  rtjs  Tcxvoyovias,  "  through  the  child-bearing,"  of  the 
promised  "seed;"  (Gen.  iii.  15.)  as  some  understand  the  passage.  Seo 
Scott  and  Doddridge. 


304  PRAYERS    AT    SEA. 

single  persons,  and  a  Confession  and  Absolution  (taken  from 
the  Communion  Service,)  to  be  used  in  time  of  "  imminent 
danger." 

When  we  consider  the  constant  perils  to  which  sailors 
are  exposed,  and  the  many  peculiar  temptations  which  sur- 
round them  ;  as  well  as.  their  peculiar  need  of  recognizing 
the  Almighty  power  of  God,  on  which  their  safety  so  mani- 
festly depends  ;  we  cannot  but  feel  thankful  that  such  care 
has  been  taken  for  them  by  their  mother  Church  ;  nor 
omit  to  pray  for  them,  that  they  may  be  duly  mindful  of 
their  own  salvation  ;  an  attention  to  which,  (in  fair  wea- 
ther, as  well  as  in  the  storm,)  alone  can  prove  them  to  be 
her  true  children,  and  ensure  them  a  safe  entrance  into  the 
harbour  of  eternal  peace.' 

i  Most  heartily  does  the  author  join  in  the  pious  prayer  of  the  Rev.  H. 
Stebbing,  in  his  note  on  these  forms — that  "  the  Lord  may  inspire,''  seamen 
"  with  an  anxious  desire  to  secure  his  favour,  to  obtain  the  pardon  of  their 
sins,  to  know  and  love  their  Saviour,  and  be  filled  with  his  grace." 

It  is,  indeed,  a  subject  of  devout  thankfulness  to  God,  that  the  number 
of  praying  and  virtuous  sailors,  has  so  much  increased  of  late  years;  as  it 
must  add  so  considerably  to  the  safety  of  our  country,  the  honour  of 
Christianity,  and  the  furtherance  of  the  Gospel  in  foreign  lands. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 


HOLY    ORDERS. 


The  Church  being  a  spiritual  kingdom,  it  is  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  it  must  have  spiritual  officers  for  its  proper 
government,  under  Christ  its  Head.  This  is  analogous 
to  the  natural  order  of  things ;  as  we  see  in  the  families, 
states,  empires,  and  other  societies  of  this  world ;  among 
which  the  Church  is  placed,  as  an  "  imperium  in  imperio ;" 
and  to  which  it  bears  certain  relations,  but  of  which  it  is, 
nevertheless,  in  a  great  measure  independent. 

We  are  certain,  from  Scripture,  that  this  conjecture  is 
not  without  foundation.  God  has  never  left  his  Church 
dependent  upon  the  movements  of  private  and  popular  will 
for  the  management  of  its  affairs  ;  but  has  ever  committed 
them  to  a  regularly  constituted  ministry,  even  in  those  days 
when  he  held  the  reins  of  its  government  most  immediately 
in  his  own  hands. 

Thus  we  find,  in  the  Mosaic  Church,  a  threefold  order, 
with  a  solemn  form  of  institution : '  the  sons  of  Aaron 
being  consecrated  to  "  minister  unto  God  in  the  priest's 
office,"  under  the  superintendence  of  the  High-Priest ;i 
and  the  rest  of  the  tribe  of  Levi  being  appointed  to  assist 
them  in  "  doing  the  service  of  the  tabernacle."3     Nor  was 

i  Exod.  xxix.    Lev.  viii. 

2  Exod.  xxviii.  3,  41.  Numb-  iii.  4.  "in  the  sight  of  Aaron,"  i.  e.  "ac- 
cording to  his  direction,  under  his  eye.'' — Scott.  We  read  also  oi'apxtepas, 
"  chief-priests,"  who  were  probably  heads  of  the  four  and  twenty  courses. 
Matt.  ii.  4 ;  xxvi.  3.  Comp.  1  Chron.  xxiv.  G.  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  14.  See 
Hooker's  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  78. 

3  Numb.  iii.  G— 8. 

26  *  (  305  ) 


306  SCRIPTURAL    AUTHORITY. 

their  duty  confined  to  the  offering  up  of  sacrifices,  and  the 
performance  of  other  rites  of  that  typical  dispensation  ;  but 
it  extended  also  to  the  "  teaching  Israel  statutes  and  judg- 
ments," l  and  the  whole  administration  of  the  religious  wor- 
ship, and  spiritual  discipline  of  the  ancient  Church.2 

When  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  appeared  on  earth,  as  the 
Prophet,  Priest,  and  King  of  his  Church,  he  committed  its 
government  primarily  to  the  twelve  Apostles  whom  he  had 
chosen  (assisted  in  their  mission  by  seventy  subordinate 
preachers  ;)3  with  power  to  commission  others  in  succession 
to  carry  on  his  work,  and  the  ministry  of  his  word,  to  the 
end  of  time.4 

Accordingly  we  find  that,  in  the  exercise  of  this  power, 
they  ordained  the  seven  Deacons  at  Jerusalem,  to  assist 
them  in  the  care  of  the  poor ; 5  an  appointment  which  pro- 
bably led  the  way  to  the  general  establisment,  not  long 
after,  of  the  lowest  order  of  the  Christian  Ministry.6  We 
read,  soon  afterwards,  of  Paul  and  Barnabas,  (who  had 
themselves  been  specially  sent  forth  by  the  Church  at  An- 
tioch  as  Apostles  to  the  Gentiles,7)  "  ordaining  elders  in 
every  church,"  8  which  they  formed  ;  which  was  the  second 
order  of  Presbyters,  commonly  called  Priests,  though  not 
with  any  reference  to  sacrifice?  Lastly,  we  find  Apostolic 
men,  like  Timothy  and  Titus,  sent  out  to  particular  Churches, 
with  full  authority  to  exercise  episcopal  jurisdiction  over 

i  Ezra  vii-  10.  Comp.  Lev-  x.  11.  Deut.  xxxiii.  10.  2Chron.  xvii.  7—9; 
xix.  8.    Mai.  ii.  6,  7. 

2  The  Priests  and  Levites  were  assisted  in  the  pastoral  office,  by  the 
Prophets  and  Scribes. 

3  Luke  x.  1—9. 

4  Matt.  ix.  37,  38 ;  x.  1—5;  xxviii.  18—20.  Luke  vi.  12, 13.  John  xvii. 
18;  xx.  21. 

5  Acts  vi.  1 — 6.  Though  the  name  of  Deacons  occur  only  in  the  title 
of  our  English  Bibles,  yet  there  seems  to  be  little  room  to  doubt  that  it  is 
correctly  applied-     See  Whitby  in  loc.  Bingham's  Antiq.  ii.  xx.  1. 

6  1  Tim.  iii.  8—13.  7  Acts  xiii-  1—4. 

8  Acts  xiv.  23.  Hooker  is  of  opinion  that  "  the  seventy"  were  presbyters, 
ordained  such  by  our  Lord  himself.    See  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  73.  (4). 

9  Xlptaff urzpoi,  probably  originally  elders  in  age;  though,  as  "senator,'' 
and  "  alderman,-"  the  name  came  at  length  to  designate  office  and  honour, 
lo  which  age  was  a  primary  recommendation.     See  page  182. 


A    THREEFOLD    ORDER.  307 

them  ; '  or,  in  other  words,  to  ordain  priests  and  deacons,2 
and  to  superintend  the  conduct,3  as  well  as  the  doctrine,4  of 
the  ministers  over  whom  they  were  appointed. 

Thus  we  have  traced  the  origin  of  a  threefold  order  of 
Ministers  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  even  in  the  days  of  the 
Apostles,  and  from  the  simple  testimony  of  Scripture.  It 
is  nevertheless  true  that  this  order  was  not  uniformly  es- 
tablished in  the  Churches  at  that  early  period,  as  it  appears 
to  have  been  shortly  afterwards.5  In  some  Christian 
Churches,  there  were  only  Presbyter-Bishops6  and  Dea- 
cons, while  in  others,  as  at  Corinth,  for  any  thing  we  know 
to  the  contrary,  there  seem  to  have  been  no  presiding  Min- 
isters ;  but  the  Church  was  indebted  to  the  extraordinary 
gifts  of  its  numerous  Prophets,  for  the  administration,  ir- 
regular and  disorderly  as  it  was,  of  the  means  of  grace.7 

But  that  this  latter  case,  if  we  have  rightly  interpreted  it, 
was  the  exception,  rather  than  the  rule  of  Primitive  Church 
order,  we  may  learn  from  the  concurrent  testimony  of  an- 
cient writers  on  Ecclesiastical  Polity  8  as  well  as  the  various 
glimpses  which  we  obtain  at  this  subject,  in  the  brief  his- 
tory of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  the  Apostolic  Epistles,  and 


i  ]  Tim.  i.  3.    Titus  i.  5. 

2  1  Tim.  iii;  v.  22.    2  Tim.  ii.  2.    Titus  i.  6. 

3  1  Tim.  v.  19,  20.  4  i  Tim.  i.  3 ;  vi.  3—5.    Titus  i.  13. 

5  See  Appendix  A. 

6  Compare  Acts  xx.  17,  and  28,  where  the  same  persons  are  called 
"elders,"  or  "presbyters,"  and  "overseers,"  or  ''bishops."  See  also  Titus 
i.  5 — 7,  and  Phil.  i.  1,  and  Whitby  on  these  texts.  Ecc.  Pol.  vii-  5, 9,  (3)  and 
notes. 

7  See  Whitby  on  2  Cor.  ii.  6.  There  seem,  however,  to  have  been  Pres- 
byters at  Corinth  in  the  Apostolic  age ;  for  Clement  of  Rome  speaks  of 
some  who  had  been  deposed  after  an  honourable  ministry  at  Corinth,  who 
were  appointed  by  the  Apostles,  and  of  others  who  had  died.  Ep.  ad 
Corinth,  i.  §  44.  The  presbyterial  government  seems  to  have  continued 
there  till  his  time;  for  he  uses  the  words  Bishop  and  Presbyter  synony- 
mously.   Comp.  §  42  with  §  44. 

8  Thus  Eusebius  gives  catalogues  of  Bishops  at  Jerusalem,  Rome,  Alex- 
andria, and  Antioch,  from  the  Apostles  to  his  own  times.  See  Ordo 
Episcop.  appended  to  his  Histor.  Eccles.  Jerusalem  is  here  placed  first, 
"  quasi  jure  Divino."  The  Romish  editor  of  Eusebius  has  inverted  the 
order. 


308  MINISTERIAL    COMMISSION. 

the  Revelatian.  So  that,  in  conclusion,  we  may  revert  to 
the  satisfactory  statement  of  our  Reformers,  at  the  head  of 
the  Ordination  Services,  as  expressive  of  our  mature  con- 
viction ; — "  It  is  evident  unto  all  men,  diligently  reading 
holy  Scripture  and  ancient  Authors,  that  from  the  Apos- 
tles' time  there  have  been  these  orders  of  Ministers  in 
Christ's  Church,  Bishops,  Priests,  and  Deacons"1 

The  office  of  the  Christian  Minister,  is  an  "  honour" 
which  "  no  man"  ought  to  "take  upon  himself;"2  or  pre- 
sume to  execute  its  sacred  functions,  without  a  lawful  call. 
Even  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  "  glorified  not  himself  to  be 
made  a  high-priest  ;"3  and  when  he  commissioned  his  Apos- 
tles to  go  forth  in  his  name,  he  said  to  them — "  As  my 
Father  hath  sent  me,  even  so  send  I  you;"4  that  is,  with 
authority  to  send  others  also:  and  thus  to  "teach  all  na- 
tions," and  make  them  his  "  disciples  :"  which  commission 
was  to  extend  "to  the  end  of  the  world."5 

In  this  way  a  succession  of  regularly  appointed  teachers 
and  governors  of  the  Church  has  been  continued  to  our 
own  times,  by  whom  the  word  of  truth,  and  the  ordinances 
of  religion,  have  been  orderly  transmitted  to  us,  even 
through  ages  of  darkness  and  reigning  superstition.6 

Without  interfering  with  the  constitution  of  other 
Churches,  or  denying  the  right  of  Ministers,  not  Episco- 
pally  ordained,  to  preach  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  and  admin- 
ister the  holy  Sacraments;  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
requires  that  no  one  be  permitted  to  execute  the  functions 
of  Bishop,  Priest,  or  Deacon,  within  Iter  pale,  without  Epis- 
copal •  consecration  or  ordination.  Not  that  she  idolizes 
outward  order ;  as  if  the  mere  fact  of  Apostolical  succes- 
sion were  sufficient  of  itself  to  constitute  a  Minister  of 
Christ,  without  a  succession  of  Apostolic  doctrine,  and  an 
inward  spiritual  call.7  On  the  contrary,  while  she  does  noi 
undervalue  her  "  Divinely-delegated  commission,  received 


i  See  Appendix  B.  2  Heb.  v.  4.  3  Heb.  v.  5. 

4  John  xx.  21.  5  Matt,  xxviii.  19,20.  6  See  Appendix  C. 

7  See  Appendix  D. 


POINTS    OF    EXAMINATION.  309 

through  a  Divinely-constituted  order,"1  she  places  on  a 
still  higher  level  the  paramount  importance  of  a  faithful 
administration  of  Gospel  truth.2  Thus  she  teaches  us  how 
to  combine  both  these  elements,  in  their  due  scriptural  pro- 
portion ;  according  to  that  Divine  rule — "  These  things 
ought  ye  to  have  done,  and  not  to  leave  the  other  undone." 

In  order  that  no  ignorant  or  unqualified  person  should 
set  up  himself  as  a  teacher  over  others,  who  does  not  come 
up  to  the  Apostolic  standard, — "  apt  to  teach  ;"4  the  Church 
requires  a  trial  and  examination  to  be  made  respecting  the 
fitness  of  every  candidate  who  offers  himself  to  the  Bishop 
for  ordination.5 

The  first  point  of  enquiry  respects  age; — twenty-one 
years  being  required  for  Deacon's  orders,  twenty-four  for 
one  to  be  ordained  a  Priest,  and  full  thirty  for  a  Bishop; — 
in  accordance  with  the  principle  laid  down  by  St.  Paul,  in 
his  Epistle  to  Timothy  : — "  Not  a  novice,  lest  being  lifted 
up  with  pride  he  fall  into  the  condemnation  of  the  devil."6 
For,  though  age  does  not  always  bring  wisdom  ;  experience 
and  stability  of  character  cannot  usually  be  looked  for,  and 
are  but  rarely  found,  in  youth.7 

The  second  point  respects  character.9  This  is  provided 
for  by  the  requirement  of  testimonials  of  the  good  conduct 
of  the  candidate  for  three  years  previous,  signed  by  a 
respectable  presbyter ;  and  also  by  the  Vestry  of  a 
Church,  and  by  the  Standing  Committee  of  the  Diocese. 
This  is  a  most  important  pre-requisite ;  and  were  it  duly 
attended  to,  would  go  far  to  prevent  the  intrusion  of  im- 
proper persons  into  the  precincts  of  the  sacred  office.  At 
present,  alas,  too  many  regard  the  signing  of  a  testimonial 

i  "  Sacramental  Instruction,"  by  the  Rev.  C.  Bridges,  p.  133. 

2  See  Art.  xix.  3  Matt,  xxiii.  23. 

4  1  Tim.  iii.  2.    2  Tim.  ii.  2,  24.    Tit.  i.  9.  5  1  Tim.  iii.  10. 

6  1  Tim.  iii.  6. 

i  This  rule,  however,  admits  of  exceptions,  for  which  our  Church  allows 
some  license  to  be  given,  by  faculty;  as  in  the  cases  of  Archbishop  Usher, 
and  Bishops  Bull,  and  Jeremy  Taylor,  who  were  ordained  under  the  age 
of  one  and  twenty.    See  Dean  Comber,  and  Nelson's  Life  of  Bull. 

s  Acts  vi,  3.     1  Tim.  iii.  2,  7.    Titus  i.  6, 7. 


310  TESTIMONIALS. 

as  an  act  of  friendship  and  civility,  due  to  a  candidate,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  except  in  the  most  extreme  cases ;  rather 
than  as  a  responsible  obligation  to  God  and  his  Church, 
never  to  be  performed  without  the  utmost  deliberation,  and 
the  most  impartial  inquiry. 

As  an  additional  security,  the  Church  requires  a  notice 
to  be  read  in  the  Church  where  the  candidate  is  ordained, 
inviting  all  who  may  know  any  reason  why  he  should  not 
be  ordained,  to  state  the  same  to  the  Bishop.  So  carefully 
has  our  faithful  mother  barred  the  door  against  hirelings, 
and  false  prophets,  who  would  feed  themselves,  and  waste 
the  flock.  Would  to  God  that  her  children  were  equally 
faithful  in  treading  in  her  steps,  and  without  fear  or  favour 
did  always  honestly  discharge  their  duty  in  these  particulars. 
Then,  whatever  errors  might  creep  in  unawares,  they 
would  be  clear  from  the  blood  of  souls,  and  the  Church 
would  rejoice  in  having  such  to  "  take  her  by  the  hand,  of 
the  sons  whom  she  has  brought  up."  ' 

The  third  subject  of  examination  is  competency  of  learning 
in  Secular  and  Divine  knowledge :  the  former  of  which  is 
exceedingly  valuable  as  an  instrument  and  auxiliary,  while 
the  latter  is  indispensable  to  form  an  able  Minister  of 
Christ's  Gospel.2 

Some,  indeed,  have  decried  the  cumbrous  apparatus  of 
collegiate  discipline,  and  doubted  whether  classical  learning 
be  at  all  necessary,  or  even  helpful  to  the  Christian  Minis- 
try. But,  while  we  admit  the  gross  error  of  overrating  the 
importance  of  an  erudite  scholarship  in  Greek  and  Latin,  to 
the  entire  disparagement  of  the  great  qualification  for  the 
work  of  the  ministry, — a  spiritual  acquaintance  with  the 
living  oracles  of  God,  in  all  their  depth  and  fulness  ;  yet  we 


1  Isaiah  li.  18.  The  Rev.  T.  Scott,  remarks  on  the  indifference  of  the 
laity  respecting  the  spiritual  qualification  of  their  ministers.  "  Alas!  how 
much  more  sagacious  are  men,  in  their  temporal,  than  in  their  eternal 
concerns!  They  will  entrust  their  immortal  souls  and  their  eternal 
interests  to  such  men,  as  no  one  of  them  would  employ  even  to  take  care 
of  his  sheep."    See  Pract.  Obs.  on  John  x.  1 — 9. 

2  Mai.  ii.  7.     1  Tim.  iii.  2 ;  iv.  6.    2  Tim.  ii.  15.    Titus  i.  9. 


LEARNING    REQUISITE.  311 

cannot  hesitate  to  ascribe  to  well  meaning  ignorance,  or 
wild  enthusiasm,  the  fallacious  notion  that,  in  an  age  of 
intellectual  cultivation,  but  not  of  miraculous  gifts,  the 
ordinary  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit  are  to  supersede  the 
exercise  of  the  natural  powers  of  the  understanding,  in  the 
work  of  studying  and  interpreting  the  inspired  volume.  As 
well  might  an  untaught  workman  think  of  erecting  a  house 
without  a  knowledge  of  architecture,  or  even  without  proper 
tools,  as  a  modern  Minister  of  Christ  set  about  his  arduous 
employment,  without  previous  preparation,  and  a  provision 
of  mental  as  well  as  moral  furniture. 

A  man  of  uncommon  ability  may  indeed  sometimes  sur- 
mount these  obstacles,  and  by  the  aid  of  reflected  light 
alone,  succeed  in  his  work  without  previous  instruction. 
But  the  exception  must  not  be  made  the  rule.  In  general, 
a  Church  formed  entirely  by  uneducated  teachers,  will  not 
rise  nearer  to  its  proper  level,  than  a  rude  circle  of  huts 
approaches  to  the  beauty  and  proportions  of  a  well-built 
city. 

It  is  true  that  the  knowledge  of  Latin  is  not  so  essential 
to  a  Minister's  education,  as  it  was  when  almost  the  entire 
range  of  literature  was  confined  within  the  limits  of  that 
tongue.  Still,  however,  it  is  valuable  as  a  key  of  know- 
ledge ;  while  the  ability  to  draw  from  the  Greek  and  Hebrew 
fountains,  especially  the  former,  is  as  needful  as  ever  to 
constitute  a  complete  guide  to  Scripture  truth. 

After  all,  to  be  "  sufficiently  instructed  in  Holy  Scrip- 
ture," is  the  principal  requirement ;  nor  is  it  so  easy  an 
attainment  as  many  imagine.  It  implies  an  acquaintance 
with  the  word  of  God,  not  only  critical  and  theoretical,  but 
experimental  and  practical ;  such  as  can  be  acquired  in  no 
other  schools  but  those  of  the  heart,  and  the  closet,  and  by 
no  other  exercises  than  prayerful  study,  and  the  daily 
pastoral  walk  under  the  eye  of  an  experienced  Parochial 
Minister.1 

1  Why  should  the  medical  student  be  required  to  "  walk  the  hospitals," 
and  thus  obtain  personal  insight  into  the  nature  of  disease  and  their 
remedies,  before  he  is  permitted  to  practice  medicine  and  surgery ;  while 


312  ORDINATION    OF    DEACONS. 

Respecting  the  times  of  ordination,  we  have  already  ob- 
served that  the  Sundays  after  the  Ember  Days  are  set  apart 
by  the  Church  for  this  special  purpose,  that  all  the  people 
may  unite  in  prayer  for  God's  blessing  upon  those  whom 
He  shall  choose  to  be  their  Ministers.  "  Or  else,  on  urgent 
occasion,"  it  may  be  performed  "  on  some  other  Sunday 
or  Holy-day,"  but  still,  "  in  the  face  of  the  Church,"  in 
order  to  give  the  greater  publicity  and  solemnity  to  an  oc- 
casion, in  which  all  her  members  are  so  deeply  interested. 

ORDINATION    OF    DEACONS. 

"  When  the  day  appointed  by  the  Bishop  is  come,  after 
Morning  Prayer  is  ended,"  there  is  to  be  "  a  Sermon  or 
Exhortation,  declaring  the  duty  and  office  of  such  as  come 
to  be  admitted  Deacons,"  or  Priests,  "  how  necessary  these 
orders  are  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  also,  how  the 
people  ought  to  esteem  them  in  their  office." 

The  office  of  Deacon,1  as  explained  by  the  Church,  is 
"  to  assist  the  Priest  in  Divine  Service,  and  specially  when 
he  ministereth  the  holy  communion,  and  to  help  him  in  the 
distribution  thereof; 2  and  to  read  holy  Scriptures  and 
Homilies  in  the  Church ;  and  to  instruct  the  youth  in  the 
Catechism  ;  in  the  absence  of  the  Priest  to  baptize  infants, 
and  to  preach,  if  he  be  admitted  thereto  by  the  Bishop."  3 
Also,  "  where  provision  is  so  made,  to  search  for  the  sick, 
poor,  and  impotent  people  of  the  parish,  to  intimate  their 

the  Divinity  student  is  allowed  to  tamper  with  diseased  souls,  without 
any  preparatory  discipline,  or  experience  in  the  ministry?  Surely  a 
college  course,  however  excellent,  is  not  all  that  is  required  to  form  a 
faithful  Pastor.  On  this  subject  see  Bridges'  Christian  Ministry,  5th  Ed. 
pp.  64 — 77. 

1  The  word  deacon,  otaxovo; — properly  signifies  a  "minister,"  or  "ser- 
vant," and  so  it  is  often  translated  in  the  New  Testament.  See  Matt.  xx. 
26.  Mark  ix.  35 ;  x.  43.  Rom.  xiii.  4 ;  xv.  8,  &c.  It  is  probably  derived 
from  "  serving  tables,"  iiaKovav.    Acts  vi.  2 

2  So  Justin  Martyr,  in  his  Apology,  informs  us  that  "the  consecrated 
elements  were  distributed  to,  and  partaken  of  by  all  present,  and  sent  to 
the  absent  by  the  hands  of  the  deacons."    c.  87. 

3  In  King  Edward's  Prayer  Books  this  clause  ran  thus :  "  also  to  baptize 
and  preach  if  he  be  commanded  by  the  bishop." 


OFFICE    OF    DEACON.  313 

estates,  names,  and  places  where  they  dwell,  unto  the 
Curate,  that  by  his  exhortation  they  may  be  relieved." 

The  care  of  the  temporal  wants  of  the  poor,  though  the 
chief  duty  of  the  first  Deacons,1  seems  now  not  so  properly 
to  belong  to  this  order,  as  to  the  overseers  and  guardians 
of  the  poor.  Still,  however,  we  cannot  doubt  that  the 
minister  of  Christ  should,  in  a  subordinate  degree,  direct 
his  attention  to  this  important  object,  after  the  example  of 
Him,  who  "  went  about  doing  good." 2  Their  chief  re- 
sponsibility, nevertheless,  is  the  care  of  souls.3 

The  deacons,  "decently  habited,"4  are  first  presented  to 
the  Bishop  by  a  Priest,  who  certifies  him  of  the  fitness  of 
the  candidates,  both  in  respect  of  "  learning  and  godly  con- 
versation, to  exercise  their  ministry  duly,  to  the  honour  of 
God,  and  the  edifying  of  his  church."5 

The  Bishop  then  inquires  of  the  people  whether  they 
know  any  "  great  crime  or  impediment"  in  any  of  the  per- 
sons presented  to  be  ordained ;  and  if  any  sufficient  objec- 
tion is  alleged,  the  ordination  of  that  individual  is  to  be  de- 
ferred till  his  character  has  been  cleared. 

Those  who  are  found  worthy  are  then  commended  by  the 
Bishop  to  the  prayers  of  the  congregation  ;  and  the  Litany 
is  repeated,  including  a  prayer  for  those  to  be  admitted  to 
the  order  of  Deacons.     Then  follows  the  Communion  Ser- 

l  Acts  vi.  1—3.  2  Acts  x.  38. 

3  Acts  vi.  8—10 ;  vii. ;  viii.  5—40;  xxi.  8. 

4  Probably  in  the  academical  dress.  The  First  Prayer  Book  of  Edward 
VI.,  mentions  a  "plain  Albe."  In  the  Second,  however,  no  direction 
respecting  dress  appeared.  A  particular  mode  of  apparel  is  not  enjoined 
upon  the  ministers  of  Christ  in  the  New  Testament,  as  it  was  under  the 
Levitical  dispensation.  Still,  however,  such  distinctions  are  becoming 
and  useful ;  as  tending  to  check  a  foppish  taste  for  fashionable  novelties  in 
dress,  and  by  the  uniform  observance  of  a  grave  and  sober  habit,  to  remind 
the  ordained,  as  often  as  they  look  upon  it,  that  they  are  to  "  be  holy  unto 
their  God."     Numb.  xv.  38—40.    See  Ex.  xxviii. 

5  The  title  "Reverend  Father  in  God,"  addressed  to  the  Bishop,  has 
been  objected  to  as  opposed  to  our  Lord's  injunction,  Matt,  xxiii,  9.  But 
that  this  passage  cannot  be  understood  literally  is  manifest ;  and  that  it 
will  not  bear  such  an  application  appears  sufficiently  clear  from  the  prac- 
tice of  the  people  of  God,  both  before  and  after  Christ.  See  2  Kings  ii.  12; 
xiii.  14.    Acts  vii.  2.     1  Cor.  iv.  15. 

27 


314 


THE    COLLECT. 


vice,  with  an  appropriate  Collect  and  Epistle.  In  the  former, 
Saint  Stephen  is  held  forth  as  a  pattern  of  a  godly  deacon, 
a  man  "  full  of  faith,  and  the  Holy  Ghost ;"  '  and  we  pray 
that  those  to  be  admitted  to  the  like  office,  may  be  both  "  re- 
plenished with  the  truth  of  divine  doctrine,  and  adorned  with 
innocency  of  life,"  the  furniture  both  of  the  head  and  heart, 
which  together  make  up  the  Urim  and  Thummin  of  the 
Christian  dispensation :  "  that  both  by  word  and  good  ex- 
ample, they  may  faithfully  serve  God  in  this  office,  to  the 
glory  of  his  name,  and  the  edification  of  his  church."  Two 
portions  of  scripture  are  appointed  for  the  Epistles ;  the  one 
containing  St.  Paul's  account  of  the  qualifications  of  a  Dea- 
con ; 2  the  other  the  history  of  the  Divine  institution  of  this 
sacred  Order.3 

Each  candidate  is  then  solemnly  and  publicly  examined 
by  the  Bishop  as  to  his  motive  in  coming  forward.  "  Do 
you  trust  that  you  are  inwardly  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
to  take  upon  you  this  Office  and  Ministration,  to  serve  God 
for  the  promoting  of  his  glory,  and  the  edifying  of  his  peo- 
ple?" Not  that  a  sensible  impulse  must  be  felt,  or  regarded 
as  a  sure  and  necessary  evidence  of  a  Divine  call.  Such 
an  idea  would  open  a  door  to  the  most  dangerous  enthu- 
siasm. The  only  satisfactory  proof  of  a  Spiritual  Commis- 
sion, is  the  seal  of  God's  Spirit  on  our  hearts,  "  witnessing 
with  our  spirits,"4  that  not  of  covetousness,  or  of  guile — not 
for  ambitious  objects,  or  any  sinister  design,5 — but  for  God's 
glory,  and  the  edification  of  his  Church,6  we  have  sought  an 
entrance  into  the  sacred  office  of  the  Ministry. 

The  Bishop  next  asks  them  whether  they  "  think  they  are 
truly  called,  according  to  the  will  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  according  to  the  Canons  of  this  Church  ;  to  the  Ministry 

1  Acts  vi.  5.  2  1  Tim.  iii.  8—13.  3  Acts  vi.  2—7. 

»  Rom.  viii.  16.  s  2  Cor  iv.  2.  5.     1  Thess.  ii.  3—6. 

6  2  Cor.  v.  14;  xii.  19.  This  question  manifestly  presupposes  the 
candidate  to  be  "living  in  the  Spirit,"  and  "led  by  the  Spirit,"  as  a  truly 
regenerate,  enlightened,  and  converted  character,  See  Rom.  viii.  1,  14. 
Gal.  v.  18.  25.  John  iii.  3,  5.  Heb.  vi.  4.  Matt,  xviii.  3.  The  shocking 
inconsistency,  and  awful  danger  of  undertaking  the  bishoprick  of  souls 


A    CALL    TO    THE    MINISTRY.  315 

of  the  Church  ?"  This  cannot  refer  to  the  form  of  ordination, 
which  has  not  yet  been  received,  and  must  therefore  allude 
to  the  outward  call  preliminary  to  Holy  Orders,  such  as  the 
possession  of  natural  gifts  and  ability  for  the  work,  the  lead- 
ings of  Divine  Providence  in  the  provision  of  a  Title  to 
Orders,  and  other  external  requisites  ;  which,  in  some  mea- 
sure, stand  in  the  place  of  that  direct  and  extraordinary  call 
which  was  the  peculiar  privilege  and  dignity  of  the  Apos- 
tolic age. 

The  candidates  are  also  questioned  respecting  their  be- 
lief in  the  whole  Canon  of  Scripture  ;  that  is,  all  the  Old  and 
New  Testament,  which  is  the  Church's  Rule  of  Faith  ;'  and 
whether  they  will  "  diligently  read"  them  to  the  people  of 
their  charge  1 2  The  office  of  a  Deacon  having  been  stated 
in  the  words  already  quoted,  they  are  asked  if  they  "  will 
do  (all)  this  gladly  and  willingly  V  "  I  will  so  do,"  is  the 
reply,  "  by  the  help  of  God." 

The  Bishop  then  asks  if  they  will  "  apply  all  their  dili- 
gence to  frame  and  fashion  their  own  lives,  and  the  lives  of 
their  families,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  Christ ;  and  to 
make  both  themselves  and  them,  as  much  as  lieth  in  them, 
wholesome  examples  of  the  flock  of  Christ  ?"  This  ques- 
tion implies  that  the  Deacon  may  be  a  husband,  and  a 
father;  according  to  St.  Paul's  account  of  a  proper  Deacon, 
who  must  not  only  be  grave,  sober,  and  of  good  character 
himself,  but  his  wife  must  be  of  like  repute,  and  his  children 
brought  up  according  to  the  rule  of  the  Gospel.3  Lastly,  the 
candidates  promise  a  reverent  obedience,  "  with  a  glad  mind 
and  will,"  to  "  all  the  "  godly  admonitions"  of  the  Bishop, 
and  other  "  chief  ministers." 

without  due  qualification,  is  forcibly  shown  by  Chrysostom.  "  De  Sacer- 
dotio,"  lib.  iii.  7.  8.    Hughes'  Ed.  Camb.    ci  p'tv  yap  an\ws  k.  t.  A. 

1  2  Tim.  iii.  14 — 16.    "Canon,"  from  kolviov,  a  rule. 

2  The  ancient  Deacon  seems  to  have  been  a  Scripture  Reader  and 
Catechist  This  inferior  order  of  ministers  might  be  revived  in  the 
Church,  with  much  advantage  in  populous  districts  at  the  present  day. 
The  limitation  added;  "In  the  Church  where  you  shall  be  appointed  to 
serve;"  is  important,  as  showing  the  necessity  of  a  fixed  charge,  or  title  to 
orders.  3  i  Tim.  iii.  8—13 ;  iv.  16.     1  Peter  v.  2.  3. 


316  CEREMONY    OF    ORDINATION. 

The  Bishop  then  lays  his  hands  on  the  head  of  every  one 
of  them,  and  "  gives  them  a  charge," '  as  Moses  did  to 
Joshua,  when  he  appointed  him  his  successor ;  saying, 
"  Take  thou  authority  to  execute  the  office  of  a  Deacon  in 
the  Church  of  God  committed  unto  thee ;"  and  this  not  of 
men,  or  as  a  human  invention  and  appointment,  but  "  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 
Then  delivering  to  each  of  them  the  New  Testament,  in 
token  of  their  peculiar  calling  as  Ministers  of  the  written 
Word  of  God — he  adds,  "  Take  thou  authority  to  read  the 
Gospel,"  &c.  Thus  admitted,  one  of  the  newly  ordained 
Deacons  proceeds  to  read  the  Gospel ;  which  sets  forth 
very  solemnly  the  duty  and  reward  of  the  faithful  servant 
of  Christ.2 

The  Bishop  and  the  ordained  then  receive  together  the 
holy  Communion ;  as  a  sacred  seal  of  mutual  fellowship,  a 
means  of  grace,  and  a  bond  of  devotedness  to  His  blessed 
service,  to  whom  the  Deacons  present  have  now  engaged 
themselves. 

The  service  closes  with  an  appropriate  Prayer  for  God's 
special  grace  upon  the  newly  ordained ;  that  they  may  be 
"  modest,  humble,  and  constant  in  their  ministration,"  and 
cheerfully  "  observe  all  spiritual  discipline;"?  that  "  having 
always  the  testimony  of  a  good  conscience,4  and  continuing 
steadfast  in  Christ,  they  may  be  found  worthy  of  a  higher 
Ministry."5  The  Bishop's  Benediction  concludes  this  solemn 
office. 

ORDINATION    OF    PRIESTS. 

When  the  Deacon  has  "  used  that  office"  for  a  year,  he 
is  admissible  to  the  higher  order  of  the  Priesthood ;  or,  to 

1  Numb,  xxvii.  18—20,  23.    Comp.  Acts  vi.  6;  xiii.  3.    2  Tim.  i.  6. 

2  Luke  xii.  35 — 38.  In  the  Prayer-Books  of  Edward  VI.  "  the  Gospel 
for  the  day"  was  appointed  to  be  read.  The  first  edition  adds — "putting 
on  a  tunicle." 

3  1  Peter  v.  5.    Comp.  1  Cor.  xiv.  33,  40. 

4  2  Cor.  i.  12.     1  Tim.  iii.  9.     1  John  iii.  21. 

s  1  Tim.  iii.  15.  Comp.  Luke  xvi.  10.  In  King  Edward's  Prayer-Book, 
the  service  ends  here. 


ORDIXATIOX    OF    PRIESTS.  317 

use  a  less  ambiguous  term,  the  rank  of  Presbyter.'  The 
preparatory  requisites,  and  the  introductory  part  of  the 
service  are  nearly  the  same  as  before ;  indeed,  the  two 
services  are  usually,  in  practice,  incorporated  into  one,  in 
the  manner  explained  in  the  concluding  Rubric.2 

The  Collect,  Epistle,  and  Gospels  are  suitable  for  the 
occasion ;  the  Epistle  treating  of  the  diversity  of  gifts  and 
offices  in  Christ's  Church;3  the  first  Gospel  showing  the 
need  of  spiritual  Pastors,  and  our  duty  to  pray  for  them  ;* 
and  the  second  describing  the  marks  of  a  faithful  and  un- 
faithful Minister.6  Very  full,  clear,  and  impressive  is  the 
Bishop's  exhortation  immediately  following.  He  points  to 
the  high  dignity,  and  sets  forth  the  weighty  responsibility 
of  the  office  to  which  they  are  called  ;  that  is  to  say,  "  to  be 
Messengers,6  Watchmen,7  and  Stewards3  of  the  Lord ;  to 
teach,  and  to  premonish,  to  feed  and  provide  for  the  Lord's 
family;9  to  seek  for  Christ's  sheep  that  are  dispersed 
abroad,  and  for  his  children  who  are  in  the  midst  of  this 
naughty  world,  that  they  may  be  saved  through  Christ  for 
ever."  ,0 

The  Bishop  then  proceeds  to  urge  the  deep  consideration 
of  this  solemn  charge.  "  Have  always  printed  in  your 
remembrance,  how  great  a  treasure  is  committed  to  your 
charge.     For  they  are  the  sheep  of  Christ,  which  he  bought 

i  "Much  confusion  has  arisen  from  our  translators  rendering  *pea- 
0vrcpoi,  "  elder,"  following  the  letter,  and  not  the  spirit  of  the  original. 
Similarly  the  Hebrew  jns,  being  rendered  "  priest"  in  the  Old  Testament, 
has  confounded  priests  with  sacrificers.  The  French,  who  have  the  word 
"prkre"  always  translate  jnb  '•  sacrificateur.'"    Walker's  Elem  Litur. 

a  See  Appendix  E.  3  Eph.  iv.  7 — 15. 

4  Matt.  ix.  36 — 38.  This  passage  should  be  taken  in  connection  with 
the  appointment  of  the  Apostles,  in  the  beginning  of  the  next  chapter. 
Matt.  x.  1. 

5  John  x,  1 — 16.  a  "hireling,"  is  not  one  who  merely  receives  hire,  or 
pay,  Luke  x.  7.  1  Tim.  v.  18,  but  one  who  does  his  work  only  for  the 
sake  of  his  pay,  or  in  a  mercenary  spirit,  thus  making  a  gain  of  godliness. 
Comp.  Isaiah  lvi.  10—12.     1  Tim.  vi.  5.    Titus  i.  11,  &c. 

ts  1  Hag.  i.  13.     Mai.  ii.  7.    2  Cor.  v.  18—20. 

7  Ezek.  iii.  17;  xxxiii.  2,  3.    Heb.  xiii.  17.         8  1  Cor.  iv.  1.    Titus  i.  7. 

9  Luke  xii.  42.     Acts  xx.  28.     1  Thess.  v.  12.    2  Tim.  ii.  2. 

i  o  F.wk.  xxxiv.     1  Tim.  iv.  16. 

27* 


318  OFFICE    OF    PRIESTS. 

with  his  death,  and  for  whom  he  shed  his  blood.'  The 
Church  and  congregation  whom  you  must  serve,  is  his 
Spouse,  and  his  Body.2  And  if  it  shall  happen  the  same' 
Church,  or  any  member  thereof,  to  take  any  hurt  or 
hindrance  by  reason  of  your  negligence,  ye  know  the 
greatness  of  the  fault,  and  also  the  horrible  punishment 
that  will  ensue."3 

He  calls  upon  them  to  "  consider  the  end  of  their  Ministry ; 
and  never  to  cease  their  labour,  care,  and  diligence,  until 
they  have  done  all  that  lieth  in  them,  to  bring  all  such  as 
are  committed  to  their  charge,  unto  that  agreement  in  the 
faith  and  knowledge  of  God,  and  to  that  ripeness  and  per- 
fectness  of  age  in  Christ,  that  there  be  no  place  left  among 
them,  either  for  error  in  religion,  or  for  viciousness  in 
life." 4 

How  bright  a  prospect  is  here  set  before  the  candidate  for 
the  Ministry ;  how  high  the  dignity  to  which  he  is  called  ! — 
But  if  the  office  is  indeed  "excellent,"6  so  it  is  "of  great 
difficulty  :"6  nor  has  man  either  the  will  or  power  to  perform 
it  of  himself.7  He  is  surrounded  on  every  side  by  dangers 
and  temptations ;  weakness  within,  and  opposition  without.8 
His  only  resource  is  earnest  prayer  for  the  Holy  Spirit,  that 
he  may  not  dishonour  his  ministerial  character,  and  be  a 
stumbling-block  to  others.9  Equal  need  also  there  is  of  Di- 
vine teaching,  as  of  Divine  strength.  The  Minister  must 
therefore  be  a  man  of  scriptural  study,  as  well  as  a  man  of 
prayer.  The  Bible  is  his  armoury; — out  of  which  the 
weapons  both  of  doctrine  and  exhortation  are  to  be  taken.10 
But,  above  all ;  the  convincing  eloquence  of  a  holy  life  is 

1  John  x.  11—15.     1  Peter  i.  18,  19. 

2  1  Cor.  x.  17.    2  Cor.  xi.  2.    Col.  i.  18.    Eph.  v.  23—32. 

3  Jer.  xxiii.  1,  2,  11,  12.  Ezek.  iii.  18;  xxxiii.  7,  8;  xxxiv.2,  10.  Zech. 
xi.  17.    Mai.  ii.  1—9.     Luke  xii.  45-48. 

4  Acts  xx.  25.  Eph,  iv.  11—15.  Col.  i.  28.  iv.  12;  1  Tim.  iv.  13—16. 
2  Tim.  iv.  1,  2.     Heb.  xiii.  17. 

s  1  Cor.  iii.  9;  iv.  1.    2  Cor.  ii.  14—16;  iv.  1.     1  Tim.  i.  12. 

6  1  Cor.  iii.  10—15.    2  Cor.  iv.  7—11. 

7  1  Cor.  xv.  10.    2  Cor.  ii.  16;  iii.  5,  6.    PhiL  ii.  13. 

s  2  Cor.  iv.  8,  9;  vii.  5.  9  1  Cor.  viii.  9—13 ;  ix.  26,  %% 

l «  1  Tim.  iv.  13.  16.    2  Tim.  iii.  14—17.     Titus  i.  9. 


ITS    EXCELLENCE    AND    DIFFICULTY.  319' 

essential  to  give  effect  to  the  word  preached.1  The  Minis- 
ter's family  also  should  be  a  school  of  piety,  "  a  little  emblem 
of  a  Church ;  a  pattern  of  peace  and  good  order,  sobriety, 
and  devotion."2  All  these  points  are  fully  and  affectionately 
dwelt  upon  in  the  Bishop's  exhortation.  "  Consider  how 
studious  ye  ought  to  be  in  reading  and  learning  the  scrip- 
tures, and  in  framing  the  manners  both  of  yourselves,  and 
of  them  that  specially  pertain  unto  you,  according  to  the  rule 
of  the  same  scriptures :  and  how  ye  ought  to  forsake  and 
set  aside  (as  much  as  you  may)  all  worldly  cares  and 
studies.3 

We  have  good  hope  that  you  have  well  weighed  and 
pondered  these  things  with  yourselves  long  before  this  time ; 
and  that  you  have  clearly  determined,  by  God's  grace,  to 
give  yourselves  wholly  to  this  office ; — so  that  as  much  as 
lieth  in  you,  you  will  apply  yourselves  tvholly  to  this  one 
tiling,  and  draw  all  your  cares  and  studies  this  way  ;4  and 
that  you  will  continually  pray  to  God  the  Father,  by  the 
mediation  of  our  only  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  for  the  heavenly 
assistance  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  that  by  daily  reading  and 
weighing  of  the  scriptures,  ye  may  wax  riper  and  stronger 
in  your  ministry ;  and  that  ye  may  so  endeavour  yourselves, 
from  time  to  time,  to  sanctify  the  lives  of  you  and  yours, 
and  to  fashion  them  after  the  Rule  and  Doctrine  of  Christ, 


i  1  Tim.  iv.  16 ;  v.  22.    2  Tim.  ii.  22  24,  23. 
2  Dean  Comber.     See  1  Tim.  iii.  2—5. 

4  1  Tim.  vi.  9—14.  2  Tim  ii.  4 ;  iv.  10.  Comp.  Luke  ix.  60,  62 ;  xiv. 
25—33. 

5  1  Tim.  iv.  15.  ravra  peXera,  iv  rdvrotg  "oOi.  Comp.  Luke  ii.  49. 
John  iv.  34.  The  following  passage  from  Demosthenes,  is  worthy,  not 
only  to  be  studied,  but  to  be  committed  to  memory  by  every  candidate  for 
the  sacred  ministry.  'Ey£>  ptiv  olfiai  SeTv  tov  n's  upa  eiaidvTa,  km  rr);  rrpdj 
Bcoii    iniprXciag  TTpoorarriv  iaoptvov,  oi\l   Trpodpr\piivov  tyspcSv    apiOpov    ayvsve.iv, 

d\\a  tov  8iov  o\ov  r/yvtvKcvai.  k.  Avipor.  in  fine.  Not  only  sinful,  but 
secular  pursuits  are  unbecoming  the  separateness  of  the  ministerial 
character,  and  too  frequsntly  wholly  overlay  it,  and  destroy  its  usefulness. 
How  painful  is  it  to  hear  the  remark,  alas!  too  common — Such  an  one 
should  have  been  bred  a  farmer,  a  fiddler,  a  painter,  or  a  poet,  rot her 
than  a  Clergyman ! 


320  ORDINATION    VOW. 

that  ye  may  be  wholesome  and  godly  examples,  and  pat- 
terns for  the  people  to  follow."  ' 

How  strict  is  the  vow,  which  the  candidate  for  the  office 
of  Presbyters  is  required  to  take ;  and  yet  how  perfectly 
"  reasonable  a  service."2  It  is  not  the  Popish  vow  of  celi- 
bacy, or  entire  separation  from  all  worldly  interests  and 
possessions ;  but  of  a  holy  disinterestedness,  a  prayerful  dili- 
gence, and  a  spiritual,  unworldly  character.  "  He  is  neither 
to  be  clothed  in  sackcloth,  nor  to  dig  his  own  grave  ;"3 — but 
he  is  to  wear  the  livery  of  holiness,  as  God's  hired  servant, 
and  to  be  "  buried  with  Christ  into  his  death;"4  so  as  to  be 
able  to  say  with  St.  Paul,  "  I  am  crucified  with  Christ : — 
nevertheless  I  live :  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me :  and 
the  life  which  I  now  live  in  the  flesh  I  live  by  the  faith  of 
the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  me,  and  gave  himself  for  me."5 

How  powerful  and  salutary  would  be  the  influence  of  a 
frequent  reflection  upon  the  vows  made  at  ordination,  to 
awaken  and  excite  the  Clergy  to  a  zealous  performance  of 
every  part  of  their  ministerial  duty.  God  grant  that  the 
brief  consideration  which  we  have  now  given  to  the  subject, 
may  not  be  without  effect ! 6 

In  addition  to  the  questions  put  to  the  Deacons,  (omitting 
those  which  are  no  longer  necessary)  the  candidates  are 
asked  by  the  Bishop,  in  the  presence  of  the  congregation ; 
"  Are  you  persuaded  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  contain  all 
Doctrine  required  as  necessary  for  eternal  salvation  through 
faith  in  Jesus  Christ  ?  and  are  you  determined,  out  of  the 
said  Scriptures  to  instruct  the  people  committed  to  your 
charge,  and  teach  nothing,  as  necessary  to  eternal  salvation, 
but  that  which  you  shall  be  persuaded,  may  be  concluded 
and  proved  by  the  Scripture  ?"T     This  question  is  plainly 

i  1  Cor.  xi.  1.    Phil.  iii.  13,  14,  17.    1  Tim.  iv.  12.    1  Peter  v.  3. 

2  Rom.  xii.  1.  3  Rev.  J.  Brewster  on  Ordination  Service. 

4  Rom.  vi.  4-  5  Gal.  ii.  20. 

6  2  Tim.  iii.  15—17.    Comp.  John  xx.  30,  31. 

7  Deut.  iv.  2.  Rev.  xxii.  18.  "  In  the  primitive  ages  nothing  but  the 
word  of  God  was  allowed  to  decide  controversies  of  faith  ;  and  therefore 
the  holy  Bible  alone  was  placed  on  a  throne  in  Christian  councils,  as  the 
only  judge  in  all  such  cases.''     Dean  Comber. 


SUFFICIENCY    OF    SCRIPTURE.  321 

directed  against  the  Romish  error  of  putting  Tradition  on  a 
level  with  the  inspired  Word  of  God;  embodying,  what  may 
well  be  denominated,  the  vital  principle  of  Protestantism, — 
that  the  Bible  is  the  only  ride  of  faith.  On  this  basis  the  Re- 
formation mainly  rested ;  and  it  is  a  watch-word  peculiarly 
needful  to  guard  against  the  intrusion  of  false  teachers  at 
the  present  day.1 

They  are  also  asked,  whether  they  will  "  give  their  faith- 
ful diligence  always  so  to  minister  the  Doctrine  and  Sacra- 
ments, and  the  Discipline  of  Christ,  as  the  Lord  hath  com- 
manded, and  as  this  Church  hath  received  the  same,  ac- 
cording to  the  Commandments  of  God  :" 2  and  "  teach 
their  people  with  all  diligence  to  keep  and  observe  the 
same?"3 — Whether  they  "will  be  ready  to  drive  aAvay 
all  erroneous  and  strange  doctrines  contrary  to  God's 
Word  ;  *  and  to  use  both  public  and  private  monitions  and 
exhortations,  as  well  to  the  sick  as  to  the  whole,  within  their 
Cures  as  need  shall  require,  and  occasion  shall  be  given  ?" s 
Whether  they  "  will  be  diligent  in  Prayers,6  and  in  reading 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  in  such  studies  as  help  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  same,7  laying  aside  the  study  of  the  world 
and  the  ilesh?"8  And  whether  they  "  will  maintain  and  set 
forwards,  as  much  as  lieth  in  them,  quietness,  peace,  and 
love,  among  all  Christian  people,  and  especially  among  those 
of  their  charge  ?"9 

When  they  have  solemnly  answered  to  each  of  the  above 

1  See  Bp.  Hurd's  Warburton  Lect.  xii.  and  Chillingworth's  "  Religion 
of  Protestants."    P.  i.  ch.  vi.  56,  and  ch.  ii. 

2  Col.  iv.  17.  3  Matt,  xxviii.  20. 

4  Acts  xx.  29—31.    Titus  i.  10,  11 ;  ii.  1.    Rev.  ii.  20. 

5  Acts  xx.  20,  21,  26,  27,  31.     1  Thess.  v.  14.    James  v.  14. 

6  Actsvi.  4.     Rom.  i.  9.    Col.  iv.  12.  8  i  Tim.  iv.  13—16. 

a  1  Cor.  ii.  1, 2.  Phil.  iii.  7,  8.  Archbishop  Seeker  remarks,  on  these 
concluding  words,  "  laying  aside,"  &c.  "  That  is,  not  making  either  gross 
pleasures,  or  more  refined  amusements,  even  literary  ones  unconnected 
with  your  profession, — or  power,  or  profit,  or  advancement,  or  applause, 
your  great  aim  in  life;  but  labouring  chiefly  to  qualify  yourselves  for  doing 
good  to  the  souls  of  men,  and  applying  carefully  to  that  purpose  whatevei 
qualifications  you  attain." 

9  Matt.  v.  9. 


322 


THE    HYMN. 


questions ; — "  I  will  so  do,  the  Lord  being  my  helper,"  or 
in  similar  words; — the  bishop  prays  for  them  to  Him  who 
has  "  given  the  will,  that  He  will  also  grant  the  power  to 
perform  these  things,"  thus  promised ;  and  "  accomplish 
his  work  which  He  has  thus  begun  in  them."1 

He  then  desires  the  Congregation  to  pray  to  God  "  se- 
cretly"  for  the  same,  "  for  the  which  prayers  silence  is  kept 
for  a  space." 

Next  follow  the  metrical  versions  of  the  old  hymn, 
"  Veni  Creator  Spiritus,"  said  to  have  been  composed  by 
St.  Ambrose,2  and  which  is  a  truly  spiritual  prayer  for  the 
d.vine  presence  and  assistance,  by  pouring  down  upon  the 
ordained,  the  manifold  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit.3  It  is  re- 
peated in  alternate  verses,  by  the  Bishop,  and  the  Congre- 
gation, including  the  persons  to  be  ordained  Priests,  who 
are  all  kneeling. 

The  Bishop  then  gives  thanks  to  God  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  regular  Ministry,  and  the  great  benefits  thus  se- 
cured to  the  Church  of  Christ;4 — and  prays  that  we  may 
duly  esteem,  and  profitably  use  the  same,  to  the  advance- 
ment of  God's  glory,  and  the  enlargement  of  his  kingdom. 

When  this  prayer  is  concluded,  the  Bishop  with  the 
Priests  present  lay  their  hands  upon  the  head  of  each  can- 
didate,5 who  receive  the  Divine  Commission  kneeling,  while 
the  Bishop  says,  "  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost  for  the  office 
and  work  of  a  Priest  in  the  Church  of  God,  now  committed 
unto  thee  by  the  imposition  of  our  hands.  Whose  sins 
thou  dost  forgive,  they  are  forgiven  ;  and  whose  sins  thou 
dost  retain,  they  are  retained.  And  be  thou  a  faithful  dis- 
penser of  the  word  of  God,  and  of  his  holy  Sacraments : 

1  Phil.  i.  6;  ii.  13.  In  the  First  Prayer  Book  it  is  added,  "until  the  time 
he  shall  come  at  the  latter  day  to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead." 

2  Doubtfully,  according  to  Mr.  Palmer. — Orig.  Lit. 

3  Exod.  xl.  15.   Isaiah  xi.  2,  3.    1  John  ii.  27.  Rev.  iii.  18.  Psalm  civ.  15. 

4  Eph.  iv.  8,  11—13. 

5  1  Tim.  iv.  14;  v.  22.  2  Tim.  i.  6.  For  the  Priest  to  join  with  the 
Bishop  in  the  imposition  of  hands,  we  have  the  authority  of  a  decree  of 
the  ancient  council  of  Carthage,  A.  D.  398,  probably  derived  from  the 
passage  of  Scripture  first  quoted,  though  by  some  it  be  differently  interpre- 
ted.   Ecc.  Pol,  vii.  6,  (5.) 


CEREMONY    OF    ORDINATION.  323 

In  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost."1 

The  opening  words  are  taken  from  our  Lord's  address 
to  his  Apostles,  when  he  communicated  to  them  the  gift  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  with  authority  of  Absolution.2  By  us  they 
are  used  in  a  somewhat  lower  sense  ;  the  act  of  the  Bishop 
being  wholly  ministerial,  and  the  gifts  to  be  received  by 
the  faithful  Pastor,  being  but  His  ordinary  influences,  not 
miraculous  powers.  If  any  still  object  to  the  use  of  such 
strong  language,  as  too  bold  an  assumption  of  authority  for 
any  mere  man  to  adopt,  we  bid  them  consider  whether 
anything  more  is  here  promised  than  the  Minister  of  Christ 
is  compelled  to  seek  for,  and  warranted  to  expect.  Not 
more  forcible  than  just  is  the  retort  of  Hooker  : — "  Remove 
what  these  foolish  words  imply,  and  what  hath  the  ministry 
of  God  besides  wherein  to  glory?"3  If  our  Master  has 
said  it — "  As  my  Father  sent  me,  so  send  I  you;"4  and 
again, — "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of 
the  world;"5 — surely  there  can  be  no  presumption  in  those 
who  rightfully  succeed  to  the  Apostolic  office,  looking  to 
receive,  in  due  proportion,  a  full  measure  of  Apostolic 
grace.  "  The  hand  which  imposeth  upon  us  the  function 
of  our  ministry"  assures  us  "  that  he  which  receiveth  the 
burden  is  thereby  for  ever  warranted  to  have  the  Spirit 
with  him  and  in  him  for  his  assistance  and  support  in  what- 
soever he  faithfully  doth  to  discharge  duty."  So  that 
"  whether  we  preach,  pray,  baptize,  communicate,  &c,  as 
disposers  of  God's  mysteries,  our  words,  judgments,  acts, 
and  deeds,  are  not  ours,  but  the  Holy  Ghost's.     Enough, 

i  In  King  Edward's  Prayer-Book  the  form  was  simply — "  Receive  the 
Holy  Ghost :  whose  sins  thou  dost  forgive,"  &c. 

2  John  xx.  21 — 23.  We  agree  with  Hooker  in  taking  the  "  Holy  Ghost'' 
to  signify,  not  the  "person,"  but  the  "gifts"  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  nor  only 
or  chiefly  miraculous  powers,  (though  the  gifts  of  the  inspired  Apostles  were 
really  such :)  but  also  "  a  holy  and  ghostly  authority  over  the  souls  of  men, ' 
which  was  itself  a  "xap«7^a,  or  gracious  donation;"  as  well  as  an  effectual 
Bupply  of  divine  assistance  in  the  right  use  of  it.  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  77.  See  also 
1  Tim.  iv.  14.    2  Tim.  i.  6. 

3  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  77.  (8)  4  John  xx.  21.  5  Matt  xxviii.  20. 


324  OBJECTION    ANSWERED. 

if  in  heart  we  did  believe  it,  to  banish  whatsoever  may 
justly  be  thought  corrupt,  either  in  -bestowing,  or  in  using, 
or  in  esteeming  the  same  otherwise  than  is  meet."  ' 

To  return  from  this  digression,  the  Bible  is  then  delivered 
to  each  by  the  Bishop,  saying,  "  Take  thou  authority  to 
preach  the  Word  of  God,  and  to  minister  the  holy  Sacra- 
ments in  the  congregation,  where  thou  shalt  be  lawfully  ap- 
pointed thereunto." 2 

How  solemn  and  emphatic  is  this  inauguration.  The 
Ministers  of  our  Church  are  set  apart  to  preach  the  Gospel. 
This  is  their  peculiar  calling.  Not  to  exalt  the  traditions 
of  men,  the  ceremonies  of  the  Church,  or  the  dignity  of  their 
office.  Not  even  the  holy  Sacraments,  though  an  important 
branch  of  their  Ministry,  are  to  occupy  their  attention  in 
comparison  with  the  fundamental  and  paramount  engage- 
ment of  the  ministry  of  the  Word.  Nor  must  we  forget 
that  it  is  the  whole  of  that  Word  which  is  now  placed  in 
their  hands.  The  New  Testament  only  was  committed  to 
the  Deacon,  as  intimating  that  he  was  called  to  a  limited 
and  more  elementary  Ministry.  But  now,  having  been  tried, 
and  obtained  some  experience  in  the  things  of  God,  he  is 
summoned  to  a  higher  form  in  the  school  of  Christ,  and  in- 
trusted with  the  whole  Canon  of  revealed  truth.  Let  us 
earnestly  and  devoutly  pray  that  the  Ministers  of  our  Re- 
formed and  Scriptural  Church  may  be  faithful  to  their  call- 
ing, and  "magnify  their  office:"3 — not  by  "preaching 
themselves,  but  Christ  Jesus,  the  Lord;''''4 — "  keeping  back 
nothing  that  is  profitable,"5 — that  they  may  be  "  pure  from 
the  blood  of  all  men,  not  shunning  to  declare  unto  them  all 
the  counsel  of  GW,"-6  without  adulteration  or  reserve. 

The  newly-ordained  [then]  take  the  Communion  together, 


i  Ecc.  Pol.  v.  77,  (8.) 

2  In  the  first  Prayer-Book,  it  was  ordered  that  "  The  Bishop  should 
deliver  to  every  one  of  them  the  Bible  in  the  one  hand,  and  the  Chalice  or 
cup  with  the  bread,  in  the  other  hand."  This  change  was  strikingly  sig- 
nificant. For  the  priesthood  of  our  Protestant  Church  is  thus  symbolized, 
not  by  the  Bible  and  sacraments  jointly ,  but  by  the  Bible  only. 

3  Rom.  xi.  13.      4  2  Cor.  iv.  5.        «  Acts  xx.  20.       6  Verses  26,  27. 


CONSECRATION    OF    BISHOPS.  325 

as  a  bond  of  holy  brotherhood,  a  cup  of  refreshment  from 
the  Lord  to  prepare  them  for  their  arduous  but  heavenly 
warfare. 

Then  follows  a  comprehensive  Prayer  for  the  success  of 
their  Ministry,  and  a  blessing  upon  their  labours  : — "  that 
they  may  be  clothed  with  righteousness,  and  that  God's 
Word,  spoken  by  their  mouths,  may  have  such  success,  that 
it  may  never  be  spoken  in  vain."1  For  their  people  also 
we  pray,  that  "  we  may  hear  and  receive  what  they  shall 
deliver  out  of  God's  most  holy  Word,  or  agreeable  to  the 
same,  as  the  means  of  our  salvation.''''2  That,  being  ut- 
tered according  to  His  mind  and  will,  revealed  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, it  may  be  reverently  heard,  and  cordially  embraced ; 
so  that  "  in  all  our  words  and  deeds  we  may  seek  God's 
glory,  and  the  increase  of  His  kingdom."3 

The  office  concludes  in  the  same  manner  as  that  lor  the 
Ordering  of  Deacons. 

THE    CONSECRATION    OF    BISHOPS. 

We  come  now  to  the  "  Form  of  Ordaining  or  Consecrating 
of  a  Bishop,"  which,  though,  from  its  nature,  more  rarely 
witnessed,  is  not  the  less  important. 

Before  we  proceed  to  consider  it,  let  us  dwell  a  little  more 
particularly  on  the  scriptural  authority  for  an  Episcopal 
order,  and  on  the  nature  of  that  distinction  before  asserted 
to  subsist  between  a  Bishop  and  a  Presbyter,  as  maintained 
by  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  Episcopal  power  was  at 
first  lodged  with  the  twelve  Apostles?     To  these  were  sub- 


1  Psalm  cxxxii.  9.    Isaiah  lv.  10,  11.    2  Thess.  iii.  1. 

2  Rom.  x.  25.     1  Cor.  i.  21,  23, 24.    1  Thess.  ii.  13.     1  Peter  ii.  2. 

3  Matt.  v.  16 ;  vi.  10. 

4  Hooker  well  observes  that  "  things  are  ancienter  than  their  vamts ;" 
and  "  names  signifying  common  qualities  ancienter  than  the  restraint  of 
those  names."  Ecc.  Pol.  vii.  2,  (2.)  Thus  the  office  of  a  Bishop  was  older 
than  the  name  of  Bishop;  the  first  Bishops  being  called  Apostles.  Theodo- 
re! Comment,  in  1  Tim.  iii.  1.  And  the  name  Bishop  at  first  was  common 
to  all  Pastors. 

28 


326  SCRIPTURAL    TESTIMONY* 

sequently  added  other  Evangelists,1  or  preachers  of  the 
Gospel,  who  were  sent  forth  with  full  powers  to  form  new 
Churches,  or  acted  as  their  delegates  in  the  consolidation 
and  government  of  churches  already  founded.  Such  were 
Paul,  Barnabas,  Silas,  Timothy,  &c,  who  were  all  called 
Apostles.2  They  may  be  divided  into  two  classes.  The 
Apostles  proper,  including  St.  Paul,  who  were  "  Bishops  at 
large,"3  exercising  their  authority  over  the  Churches,  which 
they  had  founded,  even  when  absent;4 — and  the  "apostles 
of  the  Churches,"6  such  as  Timothy,  Titus,  Epaphroditus, 
&c,  who  seem  to  have  been  nearly  analogous  to  diocesan 
bishops.6 

Ancient  story  is  decisive  respecting  the  appointment  of 
James  to  be  first  bishop  of  Jerusalem ;  and  the  testimony  of 
Scripture  confirms  the  tradition.7  That  the  seven  churches 
of  Asia  were  presided  over  and  governed  by  Bishops,  seems 
clear  from  the  style  of  the  epistles  addressed  to  their 
"Angels,"  or  "messengers;"8  which  imply  that  these 
Ministers  were  possessed  of  supreme  authority  in  their  re- 
spective Churches;9  in  one  of  which,  at  least,  many  Presby- 
ter-bishops existed  long  before.10 

i  2  Tim.  iv.  5.    See  Whitby's  Preface  to  Ep.  to  Titus. 
2  Acts  xiii.  2;  xiv.  4,  14.    1  Cor.  ix.  5,  6.  Comp.  1  Thess.  i.  1.  with  ii.  6. 
Also  Rom.  xvi.  7.  3  Ecc.  Pol,  vii.  4,  6,  (3.) 

4  1  Cor.  v.  3 — 5.  The  titles  Bishop  and  Presbyter  were  sometimes  given 
them;  the  former  being  a  name  of  office,  the  latter  of  dignity.  Acts  i.  20. 
1  Peter  v.  1.    See  Burton's  Hist,  of  Ch.  p.  51,  55. 

5  2  Cor.  viii.  23.    cnroaroXov   CKic\r]tTi(M. 

6  1  Tim.  v.  22.  Titus  i.  5.  Phil.  ii.  25.  fyw"  <motTTo\ov.  See  Whitby's 
Comment.  Eusebius  calls  Timothy  and  Titus  the  first  bishops  of  Ephesua 
and  Crete.     Ecc.  Hist.  hi.  4.  $  2. 

7  Jerome,  Catal.  Scrip.  Eccles.  Eusebius,  Hist.  Ecc.  ii.  1.  Actsxv.  13; 
xxi.  18  He  is  commonly  called  James  the  Just,  the  brother  of  our  Lord. 
Probably  he  was  his  kinsman :  and  not  one  of  the  twelve  Apostles.  Bur- 
ton's Hist,  of  Ch.  pp.  53,  54. 

8  Rev.  ii.  1.  ayytXlo.  Comp.  i.  20,  where  the  "  angels"  are  distinguished 
from  the  "  churches"  over  which  they  presided. 

9  See  Rev.  ii.  2,  20,  &c.  If,  in  some  cases,  the  plural  number  is  used, 
(ii.  23,  24,  &c.)  the  same  thing  occurs  in  the  epistle  of  Ignatius  to  Polycarp; 
and  a  similar  transition  in  some  of  the  canonical  epistles.  See  Philemon 
2—4.    2  John  3,  4.  i»  Ephesua.    See  Acts  xx.  17,  18. 


EVIDENCE    FOR    EPISCOPACY.  327 

To  turn  to  ancient  Christian  writers  ;  the  Epistles  of  Igna- 
tius, Bishop  of  Antioch  and  Martyr,  bear  directly  on  the 
subject  of  obedience  to  Episcopal  authority.1  Their  evi- 
dence, indeed,  has  been  often  called  in  question :  and  pro- 
bably requires  some  abatement.  But  after  making  all  rea- 
sonable deductions,  it  will  appear,  we  think,  to  the  candid 
reader,  that  the  ecclesiastical  regime,  in  the  East,  was  firmly 
settled  in  his  days,  on  the  basis  of  Episcopacy.2  Advancing 
seventy  years  onward,  we  find  Irenseus,  in  the  West,  who 
had,  in  his  youth,  enjoyed  the  society  and  profited  by  the 
instructions  of  Polycarp ;  asserting,  that  "  the  apostles 
made  Linus  the  first  Bishop  of  Rome,  and  Polycarp  of 
Smyrna."3 

To  bring  the  inquiry  further  down  would  be  needless. 
Tertullian's  testimony  we  have  already  seen;  and  there  is 
ample  evidence  in  the  writings  of  Origen,  Clement  of  Alex- 
andria, and  Cyprian,  that  a  threefold  order  prevailed 
throughout  the  Christian  Church  in  the  third  century.4 

May  we  not  then  inquire,  with  Hooker,  "  If  pastors  were 
subject  to  pastors  in  the  Apostles'  times,"  and  in  times  im- 
mediately succeeding,  "  is  there  any  commandment  that  this 
subjection  should  cease,  and  the  pastors  of  succeeding  ages 
should  be  all  equals?"5  We  may  safely  challenge  our 
opponents  to  produce  any  such  command.  If,  then,  we 
should  even  allow,  that  we  have  no  Divine  command  for 
the  perpetual  maintenance  of  Episcopacy  ;  so  that  it  should 
be  always  necessary  to  the  existence  of  a  Church  :6  yet  we 
think  it  a  rash,  presumptuous  act  to  break  in  upon  the 
ancient  order  of  Bishops ;  an  authority  sanctioned  by  scrip- 

i  A.  D.  107.  Peter  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  bishop  by  some,  by 
others  Euodius.  The  former  being  an  apostle,  the  latter  was  the  first 
proper  bishop.    See  Jerome's  Life  of  Ignat.  and  Ecc.  Pol  vii.  4,  (3.) 

2  See  Pearson's  Vindiciae  Ignat.  on  the  one  side ;  and  Daille  on  the 
other ;  also  Milner's  Hist,  of  Ch.  vol.  i.  pp.  154 — 162.    See  Appendix  G. 

3  A.  D.  177.  Adversus  Hoeres.  1.  iii.  c.  3.  "  Habemus  annumerare  eos 
qui  ab  Apostolis  instituti  sunt  Episcopi." 

4  See  the  authorities  in  Bingham's  Ant.  f.  ii.  ch.  i.  §  2. 
s  Ecc  Pol.  vii.  11,(6.) 

e  See  Ecc.  Pol.  vii.  5,  (8,)  and  14,  (11.)    See  Appendix  H. 


328  THE    SERVICE. 

tural  examples,  clearly  in  accordance  with  the  analogy  of 
social  and  civil  government,  and  confirmed  by  the  prevailing, 
and  almost  unbroken  usage  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  in  all 
ages,  down  to  the  period  of  the  Reformation. 

The  superiority  of  Bishops  consists  principally  in  the 
power  of  ordination  and  government ;  in  other  words,  they 
are  Fathers  of  the  Church's  fathers,  and  Pastor's  of  its 
pastors.1 

In  executing  these  important  functions,  they  were  an- 
ciently assisted  by  their  colleges  of  Presbyters.2 

THE    SERVICE. 

The  service  opens  with  a  beautiful  Collect,  being  the  one 
for  St.  Peter's  day,  altered  to  suit  the  present  occasion:3 — 

"  Almighty  God,  who  by  thy  Son  Jesus  Christ  didst  give 
to  thy  holy  Apostles  many  excellent  gifts,4  and  didst  charge 
them  to  feed  thy  flock;5  give  grace,  we  beseech  thee,  to  all 
Bishops,  the  Pastors  of  thy  Church,  that  they  may  diligently 
preach  thy  Word,  and  duly  administer  the  godly  Discipline 
thereof."  We  pray  that  those  spiritual  gifts,  with  which 
the  Apostles  were  enriched,  may  descend  upon  their  suc- 
cessors;6 that  they  may  faithfully  feed,  and  wisely  govern 
the  flock  of  Christ.  We  pray  also  for  the  people,  that  they 
may  "  obey  them  that  have  the  rule  over  them,  and  submit 
themselves"7  to  their  "godly  discipline;"  that  together, 
"  when  the  Chief  Shepherd  shall  appear,  they  may  receive 
a  crown  of  glory  that  fadeth  not  away."8 

The  Epistle  describes  the  qualifications  of  a  Christian 
Bishop ;  which  though  it  refers  primarily  to  Presbyter- 
bishops,  is  equally  applicable  to  the  superior  order.9 

Instead  of  this,  may  be   read  St.  Paul's   address  to  the 

1  wartpa;  ytvva.  tv  eKKXriaia.     Epiph.  Hser.  iii.  75. 

2  Hooker,  Ecc.  Pol.  vii.  7,  (2.) 

3  In  King  Edward's  Prayer-Books,  the  service  began  with  the  Epistle. 
*  1  Cor.  xii.  8—10. 

6  John  xxi   16.    Comp.  Acts  xx.  28.     1  Peter  v.  1,  2. 

6  See  page  325,  Note  *  7  Heb.  xiii.  17. 

8  1  Peter  v  4.  9  1  Tim.  iii.  1—6. 


EPISTLE    AND    GOSPEL.  fl29 

elders  of  Ephesus,1  "  wherein  there  is  so  lively  and  lovely  a 
character  of  a  faithful  pastor,  as  no  pencil  but  his,  and  none 
but  one  so  guided,  could  draw."2  Here  may  the  Ministers 
of  Christ  read,  in  this  glass,  their  own  duty,  and  learn  by 
"  his  rules  and  example,  how  to  live,  to  suffer,  and  to 
preach."3 

There  are  three  Gospels ;  the  first  taken  from  our  Lord's 
charge  to  Peter;4  the  second  from  his  commission  to  all  the 
Apostles,  as  related  by  St.  John;5  and  the  third,  from  St. 
Matthew's  account  of  the  same  or  a  similar  transaction  :6 — 
the  former  stating  the  authority  with  which  they  were 
charged ;  the  latter  the  duty  which  they  had  to  perform, 
and  the  strength  whereby  they  might  fulfil  it. 

The  Bishop  elect,7  in  his  proper  robes,8  is  then  presented 
by  two  Bishops  to  the  Presiding  Bishop,  as  a  "  godly  and 
"  well-learned  man,"  one  who  is  duly  qualified  for  so  re- 
sponsible an  office. 

The  Testimonials  having  been  read,  and  the  Oath  admin- 
istered, the  Presiding  Bishop  calls  for  the  prayers  of  the 
Congregation.  He  reminds  them  that  our  Saviour  spent  a 
whole  night  in  prayer  before  he  sent  forth  his  twelve  Apos- 
tles;9 and  that  the  disciples  at  Antioch  fasted  and  prayed 
before  they  sent  forth  Paul  and  Barnabas.10  Is  it  not  then 
most  fitting  that  we  should  follow  such  examples,  according 
to  the  apostolic  injunction — "  Brethren,  pray  far  usVn 

1  Acts  xx.  17 — 35.    This  was  not  in  Edward  the  Sixth's  Prayer-Book. 

2  Dean  Comber,  3  Ibid. 

4  John  xxi.  15 — 17,  This,  or  John  x.  was  alone  appointed  in  Edward 
the  Sixth's  first  Book.  *  John  xx.  19—23. 

6  Matt,  xxviii.  18 — 20.  In  King  Edward's  second  Book,  John  iv.  15 — 
17,  or  John  x.  were  appointed  for  the  gospel. 

7  Bishops  were  formerly  elected  by  the  College  of  Presbyters,  and  the 
people  jointly.  The  form  of  an  election  is  still  kept  up,  but  it  is  nothing 
more. 

8  The  first  Prayer-Book  of  Edward  VI,  mentions  a  "surplice  and  a 
cope," — the  second  gives  no  directions  respecting  vestments,  in  this  place. 
A  "  rochet,"  or  linen  habit  peculiar  to  a  bishop,  is  now  required  to  be  worn. 

9  Luke  vi.  12,  13.  J  °  Acts  xiii.  1—4. 
1 1  1  Thess.  v.  25.    2  Thess.  hi.  1.    Heb  xiii.  18. 

28* 


330  QUESTIONS. 

Then  follows  the  Litany,  with  an  additional  suffrage,  ap- 
propriate to  the  occasion ;  concluding  with  a  prayer  answer- 
ing to  the' corresponding  ones  in  the  other  ordination  ser- 
vices, "Almighty  God,  giver  of  all  good  things,"  &c.' 

The  Presiding  Bishop  then  proceeds  to  examine  the  Bishop 
elect,  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  pursued  with  Priests  and 
Deacons;2  viz.  respecting  his  call  to  this  Ministry,  his  per- 
suasion of  the  sufficiency  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  his  deter- 
mination to  adhere  to  them,  study  them  with  prayer,  and 
defend  them  with  diligence :  faithfully  encouraging  truth, 
and  resisting  error.3 

The  next  question  is  very  important,  in  a  practical  view, 
when  we  consider  to  how  many  temptations  of  carnal  self- 
indulgence  so  exalted  a  station  is  necessarily  exposed. 
"  Will  you  deny  all  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  and  live 
soberly,  righteously,  and  godly,  in  this  present  world ;  that 
you  may  show  yourself  in  all  things  an  example  of  good 
works  unto  others,  that  the  adversary  may  be  ashamed, 
having  nothing  to  say  against  you?"4  Blessed  and  honour- 
able would  that  church  be,  whose  Bishops  were  always 
mindful  of  this  solemn  engagement ! 

He  is  next  asked  whether  he  will  maintain  "  quietness, 
love,  and  peace,"5  and  "correct  and  punish"  offenders?6 
Whether  he  will  be  faithful  to  his  high  trust,  in  "  laying 
hands  suddenly  on  no  man:  but  keep  himself  pure"7  from 
the  blood  of  souls.  And,  lastly,  whether  he  will  be  "  gen- 
tle and  merciful  to  the  poor  and  strangers?"8 

The  Presiding  Bishop  then  prays  that  he  may  have  grace 


J  The  words  "  the  edifying  and  well-governing  of  thy  Church,"  are 
introduced  into  our  Prayer-Books  instead  of  "  the  profit  of  thy  congrega- 
tion," as  it  was  in  King  Edward's  Books. 

2  Pp.  314,  315,  320,  321.  3  i  Tim.  iv.  7,  1.5     Titus  i.  1. 

*  Titus  ii.  11,  12.     1  Tim.  iv.  12.    Titus  ii.  7,  8.         5  2  Tim.  ii.  22—25. 

6  1  Tim.  v.  20.    2  Tim.  iv.  2.    Titus  i.  13;  ii.  15. 

7  1  Tim.  v.  22.  This  question  did  not  occur  in  King  Edward's  Prayer- 
Books,  in  which  the  exclusive  power  of  ordination  seems  not  to  have  been 
bestowed  upon  Bishops.    See  our  remarks  in  Appendix  D. 

s  1  Thess.  ii.  7.    2  Tim.  ii.  24.     1  Peter  v.  3.     1  Tim.  iii.  2. 


PRAYERS.  331 

to  fulfil  these  promises,  that  he  "  may  be  found  perfect  and 
irreprehensible  at  the  latter  day." ' 

The  new  Bishop  is  then  completely  robed  in  his  episcopal 
attire ;  signifying  the  putting  on  the  grace  of  Christ,  to  pre- 
pare him  for  his  holy  calling.2  Then  kneeling  down,  the 
Bishops,  and  others  present,  sing  [or  say]  over  him  the  beau- 
tiful hymn,  "  Veni,  Creator  Spiritus  ;"  "  Come,  Holy  Ghost," 
&c,  which  has  been  already  considered.3 

The  Presiding  Bishop  proceeds  to  offer  up  a  prayer,  com- 
mencing in  the  same  manner  as  the  corresponding  one  in 
the  ordination  of  a  Priest.  We  ask  for  the  chief  Pastor  of 
Christ's  flock,  that  he  may  ever  "  be  ready  to  spread  abroad 
the  glad  tidings  of  reconciliation,  and  use  the  authority  given 
him,  not  to  destruction,  but  to  salvation,  not  to  hurt,  but  to 
help."4  That  having  been  a  faithful  steward  over  God's 
family,  he  may  "  at  last  be  received  into  everlasting 
joy."5 

The  presiding  and  other  Bishops  then  lay  their  hands 
upon  his  head,  and  bestow  their  consecrating  Benediction,  in 
words  analogous  to  those  used  in  the  Ordination  of  Priests.6 
"  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost,  for  the  Office  and  Work  of  a 
Bishop  in  the  Church  of  God,"7  &c.  The  consecrated  pre- 
late is  called  upon,  in  the  words  of  St.  Paul  to  Timothy,  to 
"  remember  to  stir  up  the  grace  of  God  which  is  given  him 
by  this  imposition  of  hands :  for  God  hath  not  given  us  the 
spirit  of  fear,  but  of  power,  and  love,  and  soberness."  The 
same  objection  may  be  made  to  this  form,  which  has  been 

1  1  Cor.  i.  8. 

2  Isaiah  lxi.  10.    Zech.  lii.  4,  5.    Rom.  xiii.  14.    Col.  iii.  11,  12. 

3  See  p.  322.  4  1  Tim.  iii.  2.    2  Cor.  v.  18—20;  x.  8;  xiii.  10. 

5  Matt.  xxiv.  45,  46;  xxv.  21. 

6  See  pp.  323,  324. 

7  In  King  Edward's  Prayer-Books,  the  form  was  as  follows,  "  Take  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  remember  that  thou  stir  up  the  grace  of  God,  which  is  in 
thee,  by  imposition  of  hands,"  &c.  See  John  xx.  22.  2  Tim.  i.  6,  7. 
Xaptapa,  a  "  gift"  of  grace.  See  Scott's  comment  on  this  passage.  Comp. 
1  Tim.  iv.  14.  Rom.  v.  15.  "free  gift."  No  mention  is  made  of  the 
Bishop's  kneeling  in  King  Edward's  Book. 


332  THE    PRESIDING    BISHOp's    CIIARGE. 

raised  against  the  other,  and  our  answer  in  each  case  will 
be  precisely  similar. 

The  presiding  Bishop  then  delivers  him  the  Bible,  as  the 
warrant  of  his  commission,  the  Royal  Mandate  of  our  Hea- 
venly King.1  The  charge  which  accompanies  this  signifi- 
cant action,  is  most  solemn  and  impressive  : — "  Give  heed 
unto  reading,  exhortation,  and  doctrine.  Think  upon  the 
things  contained  in  this  Book.  Be  diligent  in  them,  that  the 
increase  coming  thereby  may  be  manifest  unto  all  men. 
Take  heed  unto  thyself,  and  to  doctrine,  and  be  diligent  in 
doing  them :  for  by  so  doing  thou  shalt  both  save  thyself 
and  them  that  hear  thee."2  This  refers  to  his  duty  as  an 
Evangelist,  or  preacher  of  the  Gospel ;  the  following  to  his 
Pastoral  character.3  "  Be  to  the  flock  of  Christ  a  shepherd, 
not  a  wolf;  feed  them,  devour  them  not."*  What  plain 
dealing,  what  scriptural  truthfulness  is  this !  How  deep  the 
tone  of  calm  piety  and  spiritual  discernment,  which  breathes 
through  the  following  words : — "  Hold  up  the  weak,  heal 
the  sick,  bind  up  the  broken,  bring  again  the  outcasts,  seek 
the  lost.5  Be  so  merciful,  that  ye  be  not  too  remiss ;  so 
minister  discipline,  that  you  forget  not  mercy  ;  that  when 
the  chief  Shepherd  shall  appear,  you  may  receive  the  never- 
fading  crown  of  glory."6 

Having  received  the  Communion  together,  as  the  seal  of 
the  Divine  commission,  the  presiding  Bishop  offers  up  a 
fervent  prayer  for  God's  blessing  upon  his  newly-conse- 
crated brother.  It  is  conceived  in  the  spirit  of  true  piety, 
and  expressed  in  scriptural  language ;  asking  for  him  the 
grace  to  be  faithful  in  earnest  preaching,  and  exemplary  in 

l  In  Edward  the  Sixth's  first  Prayer-Book,  the  Bible  was  ordered  to  be 
"  laid  upon  his  neck."  Anciently  the  Gospels  were  held  over  the  head  of 
the  Bishop  to  be  ordained.  Con.  Carth.  iv.  2.  Constit.  Apost.  viii  4. 
Chrysost.  de  Laud.  Evang.,  &c.  See  Bingham's  Ant.  ii.  xi.  8. 

3  1  Tim.  iv.  13—16. 

3  In  King  Edward's  first  Book,  the  Archbishop  was  here  to  "put  into 
his  hand  the  pastoral  staff."  4  John  x.  2,  12.     Acts  xx.  28,  29 

5  Ezek.  xxxiv.  2 — 16.    Comp.  Luke  iv.  18;  xix.  10.    1  Thess.  v.  14. 

6  1  Peter  v.  4. 


THE    PRESIDING    BISHOP'S    CHARGE.  333 

holy  living.'  That  when  he  is  called  to  give  up  his  earthly 
mitre,  at  the  day  of  final  account,  he  may  receive  in  ex- 
change a  "  crown  of  righteousness."2 

The  solemn  service  closes  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
preceding. 

i  2  Tim.  iv.  2.    1  Tim.  iv.  12.  2  2  Tim.  iv.  5—8. 


APPENDIX. 


A.     [page  307.] 

How  early  we  are  to  date  the  general  establishment  of  a  settled 
Episcopacy,  is  a  difficult  question,  respecting  which  very  different 
opinions  have  been  held.  Most  moderate  writers  agree  with 
Hooker  in  thinking,  that  a  College  of  Presbyters  was  the  first 
form  of  Church-government  established  by  the  Apostles.1  But, 
while  some,  with  him,  suppose  that  they  shortly  afterwards  super- 
added the  order  of  fixed  Presidents,  or  "  Bishops  by  restraint,"  as 
he  calls  those  whom  we  should  term  Diocesan  Bishops ;  others, 
supporting  themselves  by  the  authority  of  Jerome,  attribute  the 
origin  of  a  localized  Episcopacy,  to  a  "  custom  of  the  Church," 
supposed  to  have  been  generally  adopted  as  "a  remedy  against 
schism,"  about  the  date  a.  r.  140.- 

It  must  be  allowed  to  be  rather  remarkable  that,  in  some  of  the 
most  ancient  and  valuable  monuments  of  antiquity,  that  have 
come  down  to  our  times,  little  or  no  reference  is  made  to  this 
order;  such,  at  least  as  would  afford  any  positive  proof  of  its  dis- 
tinct and  peculiar  character.  Thus  Clement  of  Rome,  in  his 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  speaks  of  "Rulers"  (fiyovncvoi,)  and 
"Bishops"  (nncTKwroi,)  but  always  in  the  plural  number,-  and  the 
three   orders  are  nowhere  to  be  found  in  juxta-position.3     We 

1  Ecc.  Pol.  vii.  5. 

2  See  Jerome's  Comment  on  Titus  i.  7.  and  Epist.  ad  Evang.  quoted  by 
Nelson  on  Ember  Days  in  Whitsun  Week  ;  and  Ecc.  Pol.  vii.  5,  (2.)  (8.) 

3  A.  D.  93.  Some  may  think  that  Ep.  i.  $  1 ;  "  Being  subject  to  your 
rulers,  and  giving  due  honour  to  the  presbyters ;" — is  an  instance  opposed 
to  the  above  statement :  and  it  is  so  taken  by  Nelson.    But  even  Arch 

334 


APPENDIX.  335 

must  not,  however,  rashly  conclude  from  this  circumstance,  that 
there  were  no  bishops  in  the  age  of  Clement : — for  we  have 
ground  for  believing  that  he  was  himself  Bishop  of  Rome,  at  this 
very  time,  though  it  is  remarkable  that  he  makes  no  allusion  to 
the  subject.  Nor  does  Ignatius  allude  to  it  in  his  Epistle  to  the 
Komans.  Again,  Justin  Martyr,  in  his  first  Apology,  speaks  of  a 
"  President"  (irpocaTws)  administering  the  Eucharist,  and  perform- 
ing other  acts  of  public  worship,  assisted  by  his  "Deacons."1 
Two  orders  only.  Tertullian,  also,  in  his  account  of  the  discipline 
of  Christian  Churches  in  his  own  time,  says,  that  "approved 
elders  preside."2  Probably  Bishops  were  intended,  but  they  are 
not  distinguished  from  Presbyters;  perhaps,  because  in  most 
cases,  they  were  overseers  of  their  respective  flocks,  rather  than  of 
the  clergy ,- — few  or  no  Presbyters  being  placed  under  them.  We 
must  not  forget,  however,  that,  on  other  occasions,  Tertullian  ex- 
pressly notices  the  distinction  between  the  three  orders,- — as 
where  he  says  that  "the  right  of  baptizing  belongs  to  the  chief 
priest,  who  is  the  bishop ;  and  after  him  to  presbyters  and  deacons, 
yet  not  without  the  authority  of  the  bishop."3  As  yet  however, 
the  Church  seems  to  have  been  in  a  transition  state,  her  rudi- 
mental  government,  in  some  places,  exhibiting  only  two  orders  of 
the  Christian  ministry,  in  others,  the  whole  three  complete.4 

B.     [page  308.] 

Much  of  the  confusion  respecting  Church  order  is  attributable 
to  a  want  of  clear  definition  of  the  terms  used  in  dispute.     The 

bishop  Wake,  whose  Index  refers  us  to  §  42,  43,  in  proof  of  the  Divine 
institution  of  Bishops  translates  TrpccflvTepois,  "  the  aged,"  doubtless  on 
account  of  the  vtoi;,  "  young  men''''  immediately  following.  In  §  40,  there 
is,  indeed,  an  allusion  to  the  threefold  order  among  the  Jews ;  but  in  §  42, 
only  bishops  and  deacons  are  named,  as  appointed  by  the  apostles.  The 
words  einirKOTTOi  and  nyovpevoi,  seem  to  be  used  by  Clement  precisely  as  in 
Acts  xx.  28,  and  Heb.  xiii.  7, 17. 

J  A.  D.   148.     See  Apol.  i.  85—87.     Comp.  1  Tim.  v.  17.     o(Ka\u< 

npociTTOiTCg  irptafivTZpou 

2  A-  D.  200.  See  Lib.  Apolog.  c.  39.  "  Praesident  probati  quique 
seniores.'' 

3  De  Baptismo,  c.  17,  and  De  Prescript,  c.  41. 

4  Dr.  Burton  thinks  that  the  threefold  government  was  generally  esta- 
blished at  the  beginning  of  the  second  century  ;  the  above  reasons  incline 
the  writer  to  place  the  date  considerably  lower.  A  singular  instance  of 
Presbyterian  government  existed  long  after,  in  the  ancient  monastery  of 
Iona,  as  recorded  by  Bede.  Ecc.  Hist.  iii.  c.  4-  "Habere  autem  solet  ipsa 
insula  rectorem  semper  abbatem  presbyterum,  Cujus  juri  et  omnis  pro- 
vincia  et  ipsi  etiam  cpiscopi  ordine  inusilalo  debeant  esse  subjecti,"  &c. 


336  appendix. 

Church  of  Rome,  following  the  schoolmen,  distinguishes  between 
order  and  jurisdiction  j1  making  Bishops  and  Priests  to  be  of  the 
same  order,  though  differing  in  rank  and  jurisdiction.  Some  of 
the  Fathers  occasionally  speak  in  this  way  ;2  and  Cranmer  himself 
was  once  of  this  opinion.  (Burnet's  Hist,  of  Reform.  Book.  i.  1540.)  3 
Indeed,  we  may  observe,  that  our  Church  uses  the  words  ordination 
and  consecration  promiscuously,  with  reference  to  the  appointment 
of  a  Bishop. 

C.     [page  308.] 

The  ancient  Fathers  of  the  Church  insist  much  upon  this 
orderly  succession.  Thus  Clement,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Corinthi- 
ans, §  42,  "The  Apostles  have  preached  to  us  from  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  Jesus  Christ  from  God.  Christ  therefore  was  sent 
by  God,  the  Apostles  by  Christ :  so  both  were  orderly  sent,  accord- 
ing to  the  will  of  God.  Thus  preaching  through  countries  and 
cities,  they  appointed  their  first  fruits  to  be  Bishops  and  Deacons, 
over  such  as  should  believe,  having  proved  them  by  the  Spirit." 
Again,  "44.  Our  Apostles  knew  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  that 
contentions  should  arise  upon  account  of  the  ministry  (or,  the  title 
of  Bishop.)  Therefore  they  appointed  the  persons  before  men- 
tioned, and  gave  divec\.ion,how,when  they  should  die,  other  approved 
men  should  succeed  in  their  ministry."  (Abp.  Wake's  translation 
is  generally  adhered  to  in  the  above  passages.) 

Irenseus,  in  his  valuable  treatise  against  heresies,  has  the  follow- 
ing remarkable  testimony:  "We  can  enumerate  those  who  were 
appointed  by  the  Apostles  Bishops  in  the  Churches,  and  their  succes- 
sors even  to  us For  they  wished  those  to  be  very  irrepre- 

hensible  in  all  things,  whom  they  left  their  successors,  delivering  to 
them  their  own  place  of  government  (magisterii.")  He  then  enu- 
merates the  succession  of  Bishops  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  begin- 
ning with  its  founders  Peter  and  Paul,  Linus  its  first  Bishop,  and 
so  on,  to  Eleutherus,  "  who  now  has  the  bishopric  in  the  twelfth 
place  from  the  Apostles."     (Iren.  iii.  3.) 


1  Bingham,  Antiq.  ii.  i.  1.    Bishop  Burnet  on  Art.  xxv. 

2  "  Episcopi  et  Presbyteri  una  ordinatio  est,  uterque  enim  sacerdos  est, 
sed  Episcopus  primus  est." — Hilar,  in  1  Tim-  iii.  1,  quoted  by  Whitby.  So 
Jerome  on  Titus  i.  5. 

3  Possibly  a  kind  feeling  on  the  part  of  our  first  Reformers  induced  them 
to  take  low  ground  on  this  subject,  in  condescension  to  their  brethren  on 
the  Continent  and  in  Scotland :  who  generally  laboured  under  an  almost 
unavoidable  defect  in  this  point  of  Ecclesiastical  order. 


appendix.  337 

To  add  one  more  ancient  and  unquestionable  witness,  Tertul- 
lian,  in  his  "  Prescript,  against  Heretics,"  thus  writes  :  "  Let  them 
show  the  origin  of  their  churches,  let  them  unfold  the  order  of 
their  bishops,  so  succeeding  one  another  in  a  regular  line,  that  the 
first  bishop  of  them  have  had  for  his  author  and  predecessor 
some  Apostle,  or  some  apostolical  man,  who  continued  with  the 
Apostles.  For  so  apostolical  Churches  prove  their  estates.1  So 
the  Church  of  Smyrna  adduces  Polycarp  placed  over  it  by  John  .- 
so  that  of  the  Romans  Clement  ordained  by  Peter."  (c.  32.) 
Hooker  Ecc.  Pol.  vii.  v.  (9,)  quotes  this  passage  imperfectly.  It 
teaches  us,  when  fairly  considered,  that,  while  the  principle  of 
Apostolical  succession  was  an  established  one,  the  particular  suc- 
cession is  not  a  matter  on  which  much  stress  can  be  laid  ;  Irenaeus 
making  Linus  the  fist  Bishop  of  Rome,  while  Tertullian  seems  to 
give  this  honour  to  Clement.  Some  learned  men  explain  this  to 
mean,  that  Clement  was  ordained  the  successor  to  Linus  and 
Anacletus,  during  Peter's  life-time.  This,  however,  is  impro- 
bable, and  Tertullian  is  speaking  expressly  of  "  the  first  Bishop." 
Augustine,  again,  places  Clement  between  Linus  and  Anacletus. 
Ep.  165.     See  Bingham,  Antiq.  ii.  i.  3,  4. 

D.     [page  308.] 

The  language  of  the  Church,  on  this  subject,  was  much  more 
lax,  and  less  rigid,  in  the  first  Preface,  published  1549,  than  in 
our  present  books  :  the  terms,  "  lawful  authority,"  "  lawful  Bishop, 
&c."  and  "  Episcopal  Consecration,  or  Ordination,"  being  of  later 
date.  In  the  first  Book,  it  was  only  stated,  that  "  It  is  requisite, 
that  no  man,  (not  being  at  this  present  Bishop,  Priest,  or  Deacon) 
shall  execute  any  of  them,  except  he  be  called,  tried,  examined 
and  admitted  according  to  the  form  hereafter  following."  This 
afforded  an  opening  for  that  liberty,  which,  at  the  commencement 
of  the  Reformation,  was  freely  granted  to  foreign  ministers  pos- 
sessing only  Presbyterian  orders,  to  take  part  in  the  service  of 
the  Church.  See  Bp.  Burnet  on  Art.  xxiii.  ii.  and  Strype's  Annals 
quoted  in  Rev.  J.  Cumming's  Apology  for  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land, p.  14,  where  are  some  curious  remarks  on  the  Presbyterian 
Episcopate,  and  Apostolical  Succession  of  the  Scotch  Kirk,  pp.  14 — 
25.  On  the  admission  of  Presbyterians  to  the  ministry  of  the 
Church  of  England,  see  Keble's  Preface  to  Hooker,  p.  lxxvi.,  and 
Traver's  Supplication,  Vol.  iii.  p.  689.     Hooker  himself  argues 

i  "  Census  suos  deferunt."  Hooker's  translation  is  nearly  followed. 
Bingham  renders  it  "  make  their  reckoning." 

29 


338  APPENDIX. 

in  favour  of  a  liberal  view  of  ecclesiastical  polity.  "  He  which 
affirmeth  speech  to  be  necessary  among  all  men  throughout  the 
world,  doth  not  thereby  import  that  all  men  must  necessarily 
speak  one  kind  of  language.  Even  so  the  necessity  of  polity 
and  regiment  in  all  churches  maybe  held  without  holding  any  one 
certain  form  to  be  necessary  in  them  all."  Ecc.  Pol.  iii.  2.  (1.) 
Again,  he  quotes  a  weighty  golden  sentence  from  St.  Augustine: 
"  If  ye  will  dispute,  and  condemn  one  sort  by  another's  custom,  it 
will  be  but  matter  of  endless  contention  :  where,  forasmuch  as 
the  labour  of  reasoning  shall  hardly  beat  into  men's  heads  any 
certain  or  necessary  truth,  surely  it  standeth  us  upon  to  take  heed, 
lest  with  the  tempest  of  strife  the  brightness  of  charity  and  love  be 
darkened."  Ep.  36.  Ecc.  Pol.  iii.  11.(13.)  For  the  application 
of  this  truth,  see  (14,)  or  vii.  14.  (11.)  See  also  the  Rev.  T. 
Scott's  excellent  observations  on  Num.  ii. 

E.  [page  317.] 

In  the  First  Prayer-book  this  office  began  in  the  following 
method : — 

The  Introit — Psa.  xl.  or  cxxxii.  or  cxxxv. 

Epistle — Acts  xx.  17 — 35,  or  1  Tim.  iii.  &c. 

Gospel — Matt,  xxviii.  18  to  end,  or  John  x.  1 — 16,  or  John 
xx.  19—23. 

Then  the  latter  version  of  "  Veni  Creator." 
"  Come  Holy  Ghost,"  &c. 

(The  former,  and  shorter  version  was  not  added  till  the  last 
review.) 

Then  the  candidates  were  presented,  "  every  one  having  upon 
him  a  plain  albe." 

The  service  then  proceeded  as  at  present. 

F.  [page  327.] 

Mr.  Cureton's  discovery  of  an  ancient  Syriac  version  of  parts 
of  the  Epistles  of  Ignatius  to  the  Ephesians,  the  Romans,  and 
Polycarp,  is  very  important.  Though  it  does  not  prove  that  all 
the  rest  is  a  forgery,  it  gives  a  peculiar  value  to  the  portion  thus 
ascertained  to  be  of  such  genuine  antiquity.  These  remains  are 
sufficient  to  establish  our  position,  without  any  of  that  exclusive 
severity,  and  inflated  tone,  which  appeared  too  conspicuous  in 
the  suspected  parts.  Ignatius  calls  himself  "a  Bishop  of  Syria" 
(Ep.  Rom.  §  2.)  Onesimus,  "  Bishop  of  Ephesus  "  (Ep.  Eph.  § 
1.)  and  Polycarp,  " Bishop  of  Smyrna"  (Ep.  to  Polyc.  Pref.)    In 


APPENDIX.  339 

the  last  Epistle  occurs  the  following  passage  in  the  Syriac  MS. : 
"  My  soul  be  security  for  them  that  submit  to  their  Bishop,  with 
their  Presbyters  and  Deacons.  And  may  my  portion  be  together 
with  theirs  in  God."     (Ep.  Polyc.  §  6.) 

G.     [page  327.] 

The  following  striking  passage  may  be  useful  to  cool  the 
ardour  of  some  uncharitable  zealots.  "Another  extraordinary 
kind  of  vocation  (besides  a  special  Divine  call)  is,  when  the 
exigence  of  necessity  doth  constrain  to  leave  the  usual  ways  of 
the  Church,  which  otherwise  we  would  willingly  keep  :  where 
the  Church  must  needs  have  some  ordained,  and  neither  hath  nor 
can  have  possibly  a  bishop  to  ordain  ;  in  case  of  such  necessity, 
the  ordinary  institution  of  God  hath  given  oftentimes,  and  may 
give  place.  And  therefore  we  are  not  simply  without  exception  to 
urge  a  lineal  descent  of  power  from  the  Apostles  by  continued  succes- 
sion of  bishops  in  every  effectual  ordination."  Hooker,  Ecc.  Pol. 
vii.  14.  (11.) 


CHAPTER    XV. 


THE    ARTICLES. 


We  have  seen  that  the  Clergy,  at  their  Ordination,  promise 
to  conform  to  the  doctrine  and  discipline  .of  the  Church : 
The  authorized  standards  of  the  former,  are  the  Articles 
and  Homilies,  while  the  Rubrics  and  Canons  are  their  guides 
to  the  latter.1 

The  Articles  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  may  be 
called  "  the  Clergy  maris  Creed"  to  which  he  is  obliged  to 
subscribe,  while  the  lay  members  of  the  Church  are  only 
called  upon  to  assent  to  the  Apostles'  Creed.  In  another 
point  of  view,  they  correspond  to  those  Confessions  of  Faith, 
which  were  drawn  up  by  other  Protestant  Chm'ches,  at  the 
Reformation  ;  intended  to  counteract  the  errors  of  prevalent 
heresies,  to  be  a  standing  protest  against  Popery,  and  a 
means  of  detecting  and  excluding  from  the  ministry  the 
concealed  adherents  of  Rome, 

Compiled  at  that  interesting  period,  when  our  Church  was 
just  emerging  from  the  gloom  of  ancient  superstition,  into 
the  broad  daylight  of  the  Gospel ; — they  have  never  lost 
their  value,  nor  ceased  to  serve  the  twofold  purpose  for 
which  they  were  designed  ; — namely  to  be  "  a  touchstone  to 
the  opinions  and  faith  of  professing  Christians,  and  a  watch- 


i  The  case  of  the  Homilies  and  Canons  is  different  from  that  of  the 
Articles  and  Rubric.  They  are  indeed  equally  set  forth  by  authority.  The 
one  is  as  truly  the  doctrine,  and  the  other  is  as  truly  the  law,  of  the  Church. 
But  still  the  regard  that  we  are  supposed  to  pay  to  them  is  not  equally  the 
same." — Archdeacon  Sharp.  The  reason  of  this  difference  lies  chiefly  in 
the  subscription  required  to  the  one,  and  not  to  the  other. 
(340) 


USE    OF    ARTICLES. HISTORY.  341 

light,  warning  against  the  rocks  where  so  many  have  made 
shipwreck." 

The  Articles  were  originally  forty-two  in  number,  and 
were  "  agreed  upon  by  the  Bishops  and  other  learned  and 
godly  men,  in  the  convocation  held  at  London,  in  the  year 
1552,  to  root  out  the  discord  of  opinions,  and  stablish  the 
agreement  of  true  religion  ;"'  and  "  published  by  the  Royal 
authority"2  of  Edward  the  sixth.  Having  been  repealed  in 
the  reign  of  Mary,  they  were  restored  by  Queen  Elizabeth, 
in  the  year  1562,  in  a  form  slightly  altered,  constituting 
our  present  Thirty-nine  Articles. 

Cranmer  and  Ridley  are  believed  to  have  been  the  chief 
framers  of  the  originals,  assisted  by  other  eminent  divines 
of  that  Augustan  age  of  English  Theology;3  when  truth 
was  drawn  fresh  and  pure  from  the  mine  of  Scripture,  freed 
from  the  old  incrustations  of  error,  and  unalloyed  by  new 
subtleties. 

As  a  standard  of  sound  doctrine,  they  are  eminently 
marked  by  deep  and  thorough  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures, 
great  practical  wisdom  and  perspicuity  of  statement,  and, 
above  all,  by  Christian  moderation ;  alike  remote  from  that 
spurious  charity  which  confounds  the  distinction  of  truth 
and  error,  and  can  make  light  of  the  mutilation  and  per- 
version of  the  saving  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  ; — and  that 
narrow-minded  bigotry,  which  multiplies,  while  it  magnifies, 
schisms,  and  regards  every  diversity  of  sentiment  and 
practice,  with  the  same  horror,  as  damnable  and  soul- 
destroying  heresy.  Thus  beautifully  and  evenly  poised  by 
the  balance  of  the  sanctuary  ;  the  Articles  have  been  for 

1  Preface  to  "The  Religion  of  the  Reformation."    Seeley.     1826. 

-  Preface  to  "  Articles  of  Edward  VI."  Parker  Soc.  Ed.  pp.  486 
526,  572. 

3  "How  or  by  whom  they  were  prepared,  we  do  not  certainly  know. 
Questions  were  framed  relating  to  them;  these  were  given  about  to  manv 
Bishops  and  divines,  who  gave  in  their  several  answers;  those  were 
collated  and  examined  very  carefully;  all  sides  had  a  full  and  fair  hearing, 
before  conclusions  were  made." — Bishop  Burnet's  Introduction  to  Expo- 
sition of  Articles,  p.  7.  He  afterwards  adds,  "They  were  prepared,  as  is 
most  probable,  by  Cranmer  and  Ridley," — p.  8.  See  Appendix  A. 
29* 


342  SUBSCRIPTION. 

ages  the  life-boat  of  the  Church  of  England,  which  have 
kept  her  safe  and  afloat  amid  every  change  of  circum- 
stances, throughout  the  stormy  night  of  her  open  enemies 
and  assailants,  and  amid  the  hidden  rocks  and  quicksands, 
in  the  day  of  her  faithless  friends. 

Much  unnecessary  controversy  has  been  raised  respecting 
the  sense  in  which  they  are  to  be  taken  and  subscribed ;  too 
plain  an  indication  of  the  departure  of  her  children  from  the 
simplicity  and  purity  of  the  old  Protestant  faith. 

[The  7th  Article  of  our  Constitution  requires  a  subscrip- 
tion from  every  person,  before  he  is  ordained,  to  the  follow- 
ing declaration :  "  I  do  believe  the  Holy  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testament  to  be  the  Word  of  God,  and  to 
contain  all  things  necessary  to  salvation ;  and  I  do  solemnly 
engage  to  conform  to  the  doctrines  and  worship  of  the  Pro- 
testant Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States."] 

Bishop  Burnet  has  truly  stated  that  "  the  meaning  of 
every  subscription  is  to  be  taken  from  the  design  of  the  im- 
poser,  and  from  the  words  of  the  subscription  itself;"  not 
these  separately,  but  in  combination  with  each  other.  The 
design  was  to  promote  "consent  touching  true  religion,"2 
the  subscription  declares  a  free  and  hearty  "  assent"3  to  the 
Articles,  in  their  "  literal"  sense.  What  room,  therefore, 
could  have  been  found  for  ambiguity,  if  conscious  declension 
from  the  true  doctrine  of  the  Church  had  not  studiously 
sought  out  or  invented  it,  to  give  a  colour  to  its  dishonest 
evasion  ? 

It  is  not  consistent  with  our  plan  to  enter  upon  so  wide  a 

i  See  Introduction  to  Exposition  of  Articles,  p.  11. 

~  Title  to  the  Articles. 

3  Canon  xxxvi.  requires  every  clergyman  at  his  ordination,  or,  admission 
to  any  ecclesiastical  benefices,  &c.  to  declare  that  "  he  alloweth  the  Book 
of  Articles  of  Religion,  and  acknowledged  all  and  every  of  them  besides  the 
lla'ijication,  to  be  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God,"  The  form  of  subscription 
is  also  given.  "I  do  willingly  and  ex  animo  subscribe,"  &c.  No  words 
can  more  strongly  express  an  entire  agreement  in  the  doctrines  we  are 
commissioned  to  teach.  The  13th  of  2  Eliz.  cap.  12,  requires  that  every 
clergyman,  at  his  induction  to  a  benefice,  should  read  the  A't'des  in  the 
Church,  and  declare  his  "  unfeigned  assent  to  them."' 


REVIEW    OF    THE    ARTICLES.  343 

field  as  the  exposition  of  the  Articles,  A  Cew  words,  by 
way  of  an  outline  of  their  contents,  must  suffice  ;  while  we 
refer  the  reader  to  more  extended  treatises,  for  fuller  infor- 
mation.1 

The  first  five  Articles  contain  the  Christian  doctrine  re- 
specting the  three  Divine  Persons  in  the  Holy  Trinity,  as 
already  considered  in  treating  of  the  Athanasian  and  Apos- 
tle's Creeds.2  In  the  three  next,  the  rule  of  Faith  is  estab- 
lished, as  contained  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament,  and  asserted  and  explained  in  the  three  Creeds.3 
The  ten  following  declare,  in  a  very  full,  accurate,  and 
evangelical  manner,  the  way  of  salvation  for  fallen  man, 
through  the  free  and  sovereign  grace  of  Christ,  working  in 
us,  and  appearing  for  us.4  Here  is,  indeed,  "  the  glorious 
Gospel  of  the  blessed  God"5  set  forth  so  clearly,  and  in 
such  accordance  with  the  rule  of  Scripture,  as  to  deserve 
the  Christian  student's  deepest  attention,  and  the  careful 
perusal  of  every  member  of  the  Church.  Indeed  the  great 
body  of  pious  dissenters  concur  in  these  Articles,  and  many 
have  acknowledged  their  excellence  ;  while  many  more 
have  drunk  of  these  precious  streams,  who  did  not  recog- 
nize the  channel  through  which  they  flowed.  Nor  is  it  too 
much  to  assert,  that  the  Doctrinal  Articles  of  our  Church 
have  been  the  means  of  preserving  in  the  good  old  way 
many  a  separate  community ;  while  they  have  shed  a 
bright  reflection  in  the  path  of  truth,  unnoticed  perhaps  as 
the  common  light  of  day  : — and  flashed  a  beacon-glare  upon 
those  shoals  of  error,  on  which,  in  the  dark,  they  had  else 
made  shipwreck. 

i  Besides  the  works  of  Bishops  Burnet  and  Tomline,  which,  however 
valuable,  as  compendious  treatises,  on  practical  and  historical  points,  are 
very  defective  in  their  statements  of  gospel  trtiih ; — we  may  icier  to  the 
following  recent  publications  of  a  more  popular  character; — "The  Religion 
of  the  Reformation  as  exhibited  in  the  39  Articles."  Seeley,  1826.  "  Dis- 
courses upon  some  of  the  Doctrinal  Articles,''  by  the  Rev.  II.  Blunt, 
Hatchard;  and  "Explanation  of  the  39  Articles,"  by  Rev.  II.  Budd,  in 
"  Helps  for  the  Young,"  Part  ii.    Seeley.     1839. 

2  See  pages  C3,  64,  152;  and  Appendix  B. 

a  Ste  p.  192,  and  Appendix  C.         4  See  Appendix  D.         5  l  Tim.  i  2, 


344  SYSTEM    OF    DOCTRINE. 

The  Church  here  teaches  us,  that  "  man  is  very  far  gone 
from  original  righteousness,  and  is  of  his  own  nature  in- 
clined to  evil ;" '  so  that  we  have  no  power  of  ourselves  to 
turn  to  God,  or  "  do  good  works  acceptable  to  Him ;" 
"  without  the  grace  of  God  preventing  us,"  as  a  spur,  to 
quicken  us  to  will,  and  working  with  us,  as  a  hand,  to  ena- 
ble to  do  His  good  pleasure.2  First  "  giving  us  good  de- 
sires," and  then  "  bringing  them  to  good  effect."3  She 
proclaims  the  alone  sufficiency  of  the  merits  of  Christ,  as 
the  righteousness  of  the  believer;'1  and  the  utter  worthless- 
ness  of  our  own  works,  when  they  precede,  instead  of  fol- 
lowing our  justification  :5  teaching  us  to  regard  all  our  ser- 
vices for  God  as  a  mere  debt,  the  performance  of  which 
can  deserve  nothing;6  the  best  of  them  being  defiled  with 
sin,  from  which  Christ  alone  was  perfectly  free.7  In  fine, 
she  traces  up  all  our  salvation  to  "  the  everlasting  purpose 
of  God,"8  chosing  to  deliver  us  from  wrath,  and  make  us 
in  Christ,  "vessels  unto  honour;"9  in  due  time  "calling 
us  by  His  Spirit,"10  "justifying  us  by  faith  freely,"" 
"adopting  us  into  his  family,"12  "conforming  us  to  the 
image  of  his  Son," l3  and  leading  us  in  a  course  of  "  good 
works," l4  to  the  attainment  of  "everlasting  felicity." I5  Thus 
our  whole  salvation,  from  first  to  last,  is  shown  to  be  of 

i  Art  ix.    Comp.  Eccles.  vii.  29.    Jer.  xvii  9.    Rom.  iii.  9 — 19. 

2  Art.  x.    Comp.  John  vi.  44 ;  xv.  4.  5.    2  Cor.  iii.  5.     Phil.  ii.  13. 

3  Collect  for  Easter  Day     See  Hooker,  vol.  ii.  p.  691.     Keble's  Ed. 

*  Art.  xi.  Rom.  iii.  20—28;  iv.  3—5;  x.  3,  4.  1  Cor.  i.  30,  31.  Gal. 
ii.  16.  The  "  Homily  on  Justification"  referred  to,  is  that  "On  Salvation," 
attributed  to  Cranmer. 

5  Arts,  xii,  xiii.  Comp.  Isaiah  Ixiv.  6.  Rom.  viii.  7 — 9;  ix.  16  ;  xi,  35; 
xiv.  23.     Eph.  ii.  4,  5.    Titus  iii.  5. 

6  Art.  xiv.  Job  xxii.  2,  3;  xxxv.  7.  Psalm  cxliii.  2.  Luke  xvii.  7 — 10. 
1  Cor.  iv.  7. 

7  Art.  xv.  Ecc  vii.  20.  Rom.  vii.  15,  21.  James  iii.  2.  1  John  i.  8. 
10 ;  and  John  xiv.  30.    2  Cor.  v.  21.    Heb.  iv.  15 ;  vii.  26.     1  Peter  ii-  22. 

s  Art.  xvii.    Comp.  Eph.  i.  3—11 ;  iii.  11.     1  Peter  i.  2, 

a  Rom.  ix.  21—25.    2  Tim.  ii.  20,  21. 

i  o  Rom.  viii.  29,  30.    2  Tim.  i.  8,  9.  1 1  Rom.  v.  1, 2. 

1  2  Eph.  i.  5.    Gal.  iv.  4—7.     1  John  iii.  1,  2. 

i  3  Rom.  viii.  29.        i  4  John  xv.  4,  8,  16.    Eph.  ii.  10.    Titus  ii.  11,  12. 

l  s  1  Peter  i.  3—5.    Jude  21,  25. 


SEVENTEENTH    ARTICLE.  345 

mere  grace  and  mercy.1  Surely  our  Church  testifies  truly 
that  "  the  godly  consideration  of  our  election  in  Christ  is 
full  of  sweet,  pleasant,  and  unspeakable  comfort  to  godly 
persons,2  and  such  as  feel  in  themselves  the  working  of  the 
Spirit  of  Christ,  mortifying  the  works  of  the  flesh,  and  their 
earthly  members,  and  drawing  up  their  mind  to  high  and 
heavenly  things  ; 3  as  well  because  it  doth  greatly  establish 
and  confirm  their  faith  of  eternal  salvation  to  be  enjoyed 
through  Christ,  as  also  because  it  doth  fervently  kindle 
their  love  towards  God."4  At  the  same  time  she  warns  us 
against  the  fatal  abuse  of  this  doctrine,  and  teaches  us, 
(remembering  that  "secret  things  belong  unto  the  Lord 
our  God,"  and  are  not  to  be  curiously  pried  into  by  carnaJ 
reasonings,)  to  embrace,  with  simple  faith,  those  '*■  general 
promises,"  which  are  given  to  us  in  Holy  Scripture  to  be 
appropriated  by  us,  for  our  own  individual  benefit,  and  that 
of  our  "  children"  also  :5  and  in  all  things  to  follow  the  re- 
vealed will  of  God.6 

The  remaining  twenty-one  Articles  relate  to  the  consti- 
tution and  discipline  of  the  Christian  Church.7  Here  also 
the  moderation  of  our  Church  is  eminently  displayed.  For, 
while  a  bold  stand  is  made  against  the  errors  of  Rome,  and 
the  "  trumpet  gives  no  uncertain  sound,"8  when  the  honour 
of  Christ  is  at  stake ; — on  all  minor  points,  we  find  her 
adopting  a  tone  of  cautious  reserve,  as  if  afraid  to  go  a  step 
beyond  the  rule  of  Scripture,  or  to  endanger  by  too  great 
positiveness  and  strictness,  the  unity  of  the  Church.  As 
most  of  these  Articles  have  already  come  under  review,  in 
the  former  part  of  this  work,  we  shall  not  further  enlarge 
upon  their  contents.9     Four  more  were  contained  in  King 

i  1  Cor.  i.  30 ;  xv.  10.    2  Cor.  v.  18.    Eph.  ii.  5,  8.    Titus  iii.  5. 

2  Rom.  v.  2,  11.     1  Peter  i  8,  9. 

3  Rom.  viii.  13.   Col.  iii.  5,  and  2  Cor.  iv.  18.  Phil.  iii.  20.  Col.  iii.  1—4. 

4  Rom.  viii.  33—39.     1  John  iv.  19.  s  Deut.  xxix.  29. 
6  John  vi,  40 ;  vii.  17.              7  See  Appendix  E.  si  Cor.  xiv.  8. 

9  The  following  additional  scripture  proofs  may  be  acceptable  to  somtr 
of  our  readers : — 

Art.  i. — Jer.  x.  10.    John  iv.  24.    Numb,  xxiii.  19.    Psalm  cxlvii.  5.    Zecta 
ix.  17.    Heb.  i.  3. 


346  SCRIPTURE    PROOFS. 

Edwards'  book,  which  are  now  repealed  ;  not  so  much, 
perhaps,  because  any  of  them  were  disapproved  of  by  our 
Elizabethan  Reformers  as  because  they  appeared  to  them 
unnecessary.1 

Art.  ii.— Matt.  iii.  17.    John  i.  14.    Micahv.2.    Heb.  i.  8.    Isaiah  vii.  14. 

with  Matt.  i.  23.    2  Cor.  v.  19.    Heb.  ii.  17.    Rom.  v.  18.    Heb, 

ix.  28. 
Art  vi.— 2  Tim.  iii.   15—17,    Isaiah  viii.  20.    Gal-  i.  7—9.    Rev.  xxii. 

18,  19. 
Art.  vii.— Matt.  v.  17,  20.    Gal.  iii.  24,  25.    John  v.  39.    Matt.  xii.  17. 

Heb.  xi;  vii.  12;  viii.  13,    Rom,  iii.  31. 
Art.  ix.— Job  xiv.  4.    Psalm  li.  5.    Rom.  vii.  18, 22, 23     Gal.  v.  17.    Rom. 

viii.  7,  1.    Mark  xvi.  16.    Rom.  vii.  7,  8. 
Art.  xii.— Eph.  ii.  10.    James  ii.  17,  26.    John  xv.  5.    Gal.  v.  6.    Matt.  vii. 

17,  20.    Phil.  iv.  18.    Titus  iii.  8.    Matt,  v,  16. 
Art.  xvi.— Ezek.  xviii.  4.    Rom.  vi.  23.    Matt.  xii.  31,  32.     1  John  v.  16, 17s 

Luke  xxii.  31 — 34.    Isaiah  i.  18. 
Art.  xviii. — Acts  iv.  12.    John  xiv.  6.     1  John  v.  12.    Rom.  x.  13 — 17. 

Eph.  ii.  12.    Gal.  i.  8. 

Arts,  xix,  xx. — See  Ch.  i. 
Art.  xxi. — Rom.  xiii.  1.    Isaiah  viii.  20. 
Ait.  xxii. — 1  John  i.  7,  9.      Rev.  xiv.  13.     Luke  xxiii.  43.     Exod.  xx.  4,  5. 

2  Kings  xviii.  4.     1  Tim.  ii.  5.    Matt.  iv.  10.     1  John  v.  21. 
Art  xxiii.— See  pp.  305—308- 
Art.  xxiv. — 1  Cor.  xv.  11 — 19.     1  John  iv.  24. 
Art.  xxv.— Acts  ii.  38,  41,  42.    See  pp.  153,  154;  245,  246. 
Art.  xx  vi.— Matt,  xxiii.  2,  3.     1  Cor.  iii.  5,  7.     1  Tim.  vi.  19,  20. 
Art.  xxvii.— See  p.  191—194. 
Arts,  xxviii,  xxix. — See  pp.  153 — 155;  168,  169. 
Art.  xxx. — See  p.  176. 
Art.  xxxi. — See  p.  173. 

Art.  xxxii.— 1  Cor.  ix.  5.    2  Tim.  iii.  2,  4,  8,  11,  12;  iv.  1—3.    Heb.  xiii.  4. 
Art.  xxxiii. — See  p.  125. 
Art.  xxxiv.— Pp.  20—22. 
Art.  xxxvii. — Rom.  xiii.  1 — 5.     1  Peter  ii.  13, 14.     1  Sam.  xv.  17.      1  Kings 

ii.  27,  35.    2  Kings  xxiii.  21.     1  Chron.  xvi.  4.    2  Chron.  viii.  14, 

15;  xix.  5,  8;  xx.  1 — 5,  21;  xxxi.  2;  xxxiv.  33.    Luke  iii.  4. 
Art  xxxviii.— Acts  iv.  32,  34,  35;  v.  3,  4;  xx.  35.  2  Cor.  ix.  6,  7.   1  Tim. 

vi.  18. 
Art.  xxxix. — Matt.  v.  33 — 37.      James  v.   12.      Exod.  xx.   7;  xxii.  11. 

Deut.  vi.  13.    2  Cor.  i.  23.    Heb.  vi.  16,  17. 
i  See  Appendix  F. 


APPENDIX. 


A.     [page  341.] 

When  Ridley  was  charged  by  the  Popish  Disputants  at  Oxford, 
with  being  the  author  of  the  Catechism  of  King  Edward  VI.,  to 
which  the  forty-two  Articles  were  appended  ; — he  replied  "  I  put 
forth  no  Catechism."  Cole  :  "  Did  you  never  consent  to  the  set- 
ting out  of  those  things  which  you  allowed  V  Ridley: — "I  grant 
that  I  saw  the  book;  but  I  deny  that  I  wrote  it.  I  perused  it  after 
it  was  made,  and  I  noted  many  things  for  it ;  so  I  consented  to 
the  book.  I  was  not  the  author  of  it." — And  again;  "I  answer, 
that  those  articles  were  set  out,  I  both  writing  and  consenting  to 
them.  Mine  own  hand  shall  testify  the  same,  and  Master  Cran- 
mer  put  his  hand  to  them  likewise,  and  gave  them  to  others  after- 
ward."    Parker  Soc.  Ed.  p.  227. 

B.     [page  343.] 

In  the  first  edition  of  the  Articles,  they  were  not  numbered,  and 
in  the  one  on  the  Word  (Art.  ii.)  those  words  "  begotten  from 
everlasting  of  the  Father,  the  very  and  eternal  God,  and  of  one 
substance  with  the  Father;" — did  not  appear.  In  the  next 
Article,  after  the  words  "  went  down  into  Hell,"  there  followed — 
"  For  the  body  lay  in  the  sepulchre,  until  the  resurrection:  but 
his  ghost  departing  from  him,  was  with  the  ghosts  that  were  in 
prison,  or  in  hell ;  and  did  preach  to  the  same  :  as  the  place  of 
St.  Peter  doth  testify,"  (Art.  v.)  "Of  the  Holy  Ghost"— is  no* 
found  there. 

347 


348  APPENDIX. 

C.  [page  343.] 

In  the  Article  on  "the  sufficiency  of  Holy  Scripture,"  (vi.)  after 
the  words  "  proved  thereby,"  king  Edward's  Book  proceeded — 
"  Although  it  be  sometime  received  of  the  faiihful  as  godly  and 
profitable  for  an  order  and  comeliness  ;  yet  no  man  ought  to  be 
constrained  to  believe  i't  as  an  article  of  faith,  or  repute  it  requi- 
site to  the  necessity  of  salvation."  (The  La£in  of  the  concluding 
clause  is  the  same  as  at  present.)  The  rest  of  this  article  is 
additional.  (Art.  vii.)  was  as  follows.  "  The  Old  Testament  is 
not  to  be  put  away,  as  though  it  were  contrary  to  the  New,  but  to 
be  kept  still.  For  both,  &c."  The  clause  from  "  although  the 
law,  &c,"  to  the  end,  is  taken  from  a  following  Article. 

D.  [page  343.] 

The  Article  on  "  Original  sin"  (ix.)  originally  differed  little 
from  its  present  form.  After  the  words' "the  Pelagians,1  do 
vainly  talk,"  was  added,  "  which  also  the  Anabaptists  do  now-a- 
days  renew."  Instead  of  "  them  that  are  regenerated,"  was  read 
"  baptized,"  in  the  English,  though  the  Latin  had  "  renatis." 

Article  X.  began  at  the  words  "  we  have  no  power  "  &c.  to  the 
end.  Then  came  an  Article  "  Of  Grace,"  now  omitted.  "The 
grace  of  Christ,  or  the  Holy  Ghost  by  him  given  doth  take  away 
the  stony  heart,  and  giveth  an  heart  of  flesh.  And  although 
those  that  have  no  will  to  good  things,  he  maketh  them  to  will ; 
and  those  that  would  evil  things,  he  maketh  them  not  to  will  the 
same  :  yet  nevertheless  he  enforceth  not  the  will.  And  therefore 
no  man,  when  he  sinneth,  can  excuse  himself,  as  not  worthy  to 
be  blamed  or  condemned,  by  alleging  that  he  sinned  unwillingly, 
or  by  compulsion."  Article  XI.  "  Of  Justification"  was  simply  as 
follows :  "  Justification  by  only  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  in  that 
sense  as  it  is  declared  in  the  homily  of  Justification,  is  a  most 
certain  and  wholesome  doctrine  for  Christian  men."  Art.  XII.  is 
additional.  XVI.  was  headed,  "  Of  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost." 
For  the  words  "the  grant  of  repentance,"  we  find  "a  place  for 
penitents,"  which  occurs  again  at  the  end  of  this  Article;  deny 
the  place  for  penitents  to  .  .  .  and  amend  their  lives."  Then  fol- 
lowed an  Article  on  "Blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost" — Blas- 
phemy is,  when  a  man  of  malice  and  stubbornness  of  mind  doth 

l  The  Pelagians  were  the  followers  of  Pelagius,  or  Morgan,  a  Welsh- 
man, who  lived  about  the  year,  A.  D.  400,  who  denied  original  sin,  and  the 
need  of  divine  grace. 


APPENDIX.  349 

rail  upon  the  truth  of  God's  word,  manifestly  perceived ;  and 
being  enemy  thereunto  persecuteth  the  same.  And  because  such 
be  guilty  of  God's  curse,  they  entangle  themselves  with  a  most 
grievous  and  heinous  crime  ;  whereupon  this  kind  of  sin  is 
called  and  affirmed  of  the  Lord  unpardonable." 

The  XVIIth  Article  stood  nearly  as  at  present,  only  in  the  con- 
clusion, we  read,  "  Furthermore,  although  the  decrees  of  predes- 
tination are  unknown  unto  us ;  yet  we  must  receive  God's  pro- 
mises, &c."  An  important  addition,  as  showing  distinctly  the 
reference  of  this  clause,  now  rendered  somewhat  ambiguous,  by 
the  omission.  After  the  present  XVIIIth  Article,  there  followed 
one  now  embodied  in  the  VHth,  headed,  "  All  men  are  bound  to 
keep  the  moral  commandments  of  the  Law" — "The  Law  which 
was  given  of  God  by  Moses,  although  it  bind  not  Christian  men, 
as  concerning  the  ceremonies  and  rites  of  the  same :  neither  is 
it  required  that  the  civil  precepts  and  orders  of  it  should  of 
necessity  be  received  in  any  commonweal :  yet  no  man  (be  he 
never  so  perfect  a  Christian)  is  exempt  and  loose  from  the  obedi- 
ence of  those  commandments  which  are  called  Moral.  Where- 
fore they  are  not  to  be  hearkened  unto,  who  affirm  that  Holy 
Scripture  is  given  only  to  the  weak,  and  do  boast  themselves 
continually  of  the  Spirit,  of  whom  (they  say)  they  have  learned 
such  things  as  they  teach,  although  the  same  be  most  evidently 
repugnant  to  the  Holy  Scripture." 

E.     [page  345.] 

In  the  XLXth  Article,  the  only  variation  in  the  present  from  the 
original,  is  the  addition  of  the  words  "and  manner  of  ceremo- 
nies." Art.  XX.  The  opening  clause  is  additional.  It  was  first 
inserted  in  1563;  omitted,  both  in  the  manuscript  and  printed 
editions  of  1571  ;  and  restored  sometime  afterwards.  Art.  XXII, 
"  warrant,"  for  "  warranty."  Art.  XXIV.  "  It  is  most  seemly,  and 
most  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God,  that  in  the  congregation 
nothing  be  openly  read  or  spoken  in  a  tongue  unknown  to  the 
people.  The  which  thing  St.  Paul  did  forbid,  except  some  were 
present  that  should  declare  the  same."  Art.  XXV.  "  Our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  hath  knit  together  a  company  of  new  people  with 
Sacraments  most  few  in  number,  most  easy  to  be  kept,  most 
excellent  in  signification  :  as  is  Baptism,  and  the  Lord's  Supper."1 

1  This  is,  in  fact,  a  quotation  from  August.  Epist-  liv.  "Sacramentis 
numero  paucissimis,  observalione  facillimis,  significaiione  prcestantissimis, 
societatem  novi  populi  colligavit,  secuti  est  Baptlsmus  ct  communicatio  cor' 
poris  et  sanguinis  ipsius,  &c." 

30 


350  APPENDIX. 

Then  followed  the  clause — "The  Sacraments  were  not  ordained 
&c." — now  placed  at  the  end.  But  there  was  added,  after  "  opera- 
tion,"— "  and  yet  not  that  of  the  work  wrought,  (ex  opere  operato) 
as  some  men  speak.  Which  word,  as  it  is  strange  and  unknown 
to  Holy  Scripture  ;  so  it  engendereth  no  godly,  but  a  very  super- 
stitious sense.  But  they  that  receive,  &c."  The  Article  closed 
with  what  is  now  the  opening  clause.  There  was  no  mention 
made  of  the  five  Popish  Sacraments.  Art.  XXVII.  "It  is  a  sign, 
and  seal  of  our  new  birth,"  (the  same  in  the  Latin  as  at  present.) 
"Adoption  to  the  sons  of  God  are  visibly,  &c. ;" — omitting  "by 
the  Holy  Ghost,"  in  the  English,  but  not  in  the  Latin.  The  last 
clause  ran  thus,  "The  custom  of  the  Church  to  christen  young 
children,  is  to  be  commended,  and  in  any  wise  to  be  retained  in 
the  Church."  Art.  XXVIII.  After  the  words  "  hath  given  rise  to 
many  superstitions,"  (omitting  "  bverthroweth  the  nature  of  a 
sacrament,")  the  Article  proceeded — "  Forasmuch  as  the  truth 
of  man's  nature  requireth  that  the  body  of  one,  and  the  self  same 
man,  cannot  be  present  at  one  time  in  divers  places,  but  must 
needs  be  in  one  certain  place  :  therefore  the  body  of  Christ  can- 
not be  present  at  one  time  in  many  and  divers  places.  And  be- 
cause (as  Holy  Scripture  doth  teach)  Christ  was  taken  up  into 
heaven,  and  there  shall  continue  until  the  end  of  the  world;  a 
faithful  man  ought  not,  either  to  believe,  or  openly  to  confess  the 
real  and  bodily  presence  (as  they  term  it)  of  Christ's  flesh  and 
blood  in  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper."  The  passage, 
"  The  body  of  Christ  is  given,  &c,"  is  new.  The  conclusion  of 
the  Article  is  unaltered.     Art.  XXIX.  XXX.     New  in  1562.    Art. 

XXXI.  "Propitiation"  was  rendered  "pacifying  of  God's  dis- 
pleasure."    Instead  of  "  blasphemous  "  was  read  "forged  fables." 

XXXII.  Headed,  "  The  state  of  single  life  is  commanded  to  no  man 
by  the  word  of  God."  The  conclusion  of  this  Article  is  addi- 
tional. XXXIV.  The  last  clause  of  this  is  also  new.  XXXV. 
This  was  as  follows — "  The  Homilies  of  late  given  and  set  out  by 
the  king's  authority  be  godly  and  wholesome,  containing  doctrine 
to  be  received  of  all  men :  and  therefore  are  to  be  read  to  the 
people  diligently,  distinctly  and  plainly."  Instead  of  XXXVI ; 
"  Of  consecration  of  Bishops,  &c. :" — there  was  one,  whose  place 
is  now  supplied  by  Canon  xxxvi.  of  the  English  Church  "  Of 
the  bonk  of  Prayers  and  Ceremonies  of  the  Church  of  England." 
XXXVII.  [Had  reference  to  the  supreme  authority  of  the  king  of 
England  in  ecclesiastical,  as  well  as  civil  affairs.] 


APPENDIX.  351 


F.     [page  346.] 

The  following  are  the  four  Articles  which  originally  concluded 
the  series. 

"  1  The  resurrection  of  the  dead  is  not  yet  brought  to  pass. 

"The  resurrection  of  the  dead  is  not  as  yet  brought  to  pass  ;  as 
though  it  only  belonged  to  the  soul,  which  by  the  grace  of  Christ 
is  raised  from  the  death  of  sin  :  but  it  is  to  be  looked  for  at  the 
last  day.  For  then  (as  the  Scripture  doth  most  manifestly  testify) 
to  all  that  be  dead,  their  own  bodies,  flesh,  and  bones  shall  be  re- 
stored ;  that  the  whole  man  may  (according  to  his  works)  have 
either  reward  or  punishment,  as  he  hath  lived  virtuously  or 
wickedly." 

"  1  The  souls  of  them  that  depart  this  life  do  neither  die  with  the 
bodies,  nor  sleep  idly. 

"  They  which  say,  that  the  souls  of  such  as  depart  hence,  do 
sleep,  being  without  all  sense,  feeling  or  perceiving,  until  the  day 
of  Judgment ;  or  affirm  that  the  souls  die  with  the  bodies,  and  at 
the  last  day  shall  be  raised  up  with  the  same  ;  do  utterly  dissent 
from  the  right  belief,  declared  to  us  in  Holy  Scripture." 
"  %  Heretics  called  Millenarii. 

"  They  that  go  about  to  renew  the  fable  of  heretics  called  Mille- 
narii, be  repugnant  to  Holy  Scripture,  and  cast  themselves  head- 
long into  a  Jewish  dotage." 

"  f  All  men  shall  not  be  saved  at  length. 

"  They  also  are  worthy  of  condemnation,  who  endeavour  at 
this  time  to  restore  the  dangerous  opinion,  that  all  men,  be 
they  never  so  ungodly,  shall  at  length  be  saved,  when  they  have 
suffered  pains  for  their  sins,  a  certain  time  appointed  by  God's 
justice." 


INDEX. 


A. 

Absolution,  declarative   not  effective, 
52,  and  n. 
not  a  prayer,  52. 
Evangelical,  53. 
Advent,  111,  112,  113. 
All  Saints,  142. 
Altar,  182. 
Amen,  53,  and  n. 
Andrew's  (S.)  day,  140. 
Angels,  All,  141. 

Services  of,  141,  142 
Antinomianism,  danger  of,  164. 
Apocrypha,  79,  80. 
Apostolical  succession,  336. 
Articles,  the,  340. 

history  of,  3* . 
subscription  to,  342. 
review  of,  343—345. 
first  form  of,  347—351 
Ascension,  133,  134. 
Ash-Wednesday,  124—126. 

prayer  for,  146 — 148. 
Augustine  quoted  on  Allelulia,  55, 56.  n. 
on  the  Creed,  63. 
on  Lord's  Prayer,  79. 
on  honouring  Saints, 

120. 
on    the     Command- 
ments, 165. 
on    Infant    Baptism, 

223. 
on  the  origin  of  Spon- 
sors, 224. 
on  efficacy  of  faith  in 

Baptism,  225. 
on  form  of  Sponsion, 

226,  227. 
his  exaggerated  view 
of  Baptismal  effi- 
cacy, 233. 
352 


Augustine   quoted  on    charitable   be- 
quests, 277. 
on  funerals,  289. 
Auricular.    See  Confession. 

B. 

Baptism,  an  initiatory  rite,  189. 

in  use  among  the  Jews,  189. 
called  a  new  birth,  190. 
John's,  190. 
succeeded    to    circumcision, 

190. 
a  sign  of  Regeneration,  191. 
should  be  public,  194. 
Church's  view  of,  212. 
benefits  of,  212—214. 
mode  of  administration,  222. 
Infant,  192. 

Scriptural  ground  of, 

192. 
objections  to,  answer- 
ed, 193,  194. 
service  for,  196. 
antiquity  of,  223. 
ancient  rites  of,  229. 
Private,  when  allowable,  214. 
by   laymen,   unlaw- 
ful, 215. 
Adult,  long  neglected,  216. 

necessity  for  service, 

217. 
sinfulness  of  wilful  ne- 
glect of,  217,  218. 
caution  in  administer- 
ing. 218. 
qualification  required, 

218. 
deferring    dangerous, 

219. 
witnesses  to,  220. 
Barrington,  Bishop,  quoted  ou  Visita- 
tion of  sick,  273,  a. 


INDEX. 


353 


Basil,  quoted    on   public    Confession, 

50,  n. 
Becon,  quoted  on  Fasting,  123. 

on  giving  mourning,  298. 
Bede,  quoted  on  Presbyterian  Govern- 
ment, 335,  n. 
Benedictory  prayer,  74,  75. 
Bequests,  charitable,  277. 
Bishops,  18. 

blessing,  255. 

called  Fathers  in  God,  313,  n. 
consecration  of,  325. 
order  of,  306—308. 
first  called  Apostles,  325,  n. 
antiquity  of,  334,  335. 
Blessing,  parental,  256,  and  n. 
Blunt,  Rev.  H.,  quoted  on  Communion 
of  sick,  282. 
Rev.  J.  J.,  quoted  on  Litany,  92. 
on  Communion 
service,  180. 
Brewster,  Rev.  J.,  quoted,  320. 
Bridges,  Rev.  C,  referred  to,  175,   n. 
253,  n. 
quoted  on  Confirmation,  252,  n. 
253,  n.  261. 
on  Visitation  of  Sick, 

271,  n.  273,  n. 
on  Divine  commission 
of  clergy,  309. 
Bucer,  33. 

quoted  on  Prayer-book,  44. 

on    Prayer    for    Church 

militant,  183. 
on  questions  put  to  spon- 
sors, 227. 
on  cross  in  Baptism,  207. 

and  n. 
on    Baptismal    ceremo- 
nies, 229. 
on  Consecration  prayer 
in  Communion,  174,  n. 
on  neglect  of  Catechiz- 
ing, 237. 
on  offerings  at  Church- 
ing, 303,  n. 
Burial,  288. 

service,  spiritual,  289. 

composed  in  language 
of  charity,  293. 
Burnet,  Bishop,  quoted  on  a  true  church, 
28. 
on   the  authority  of  the 

Church,  29. 
on  the  Liturgy,  33. 
on  the  Confession,  51. 
on  Baptism,  200. 
on  Infant  Baptism.  235. 
on  Confirmation.  258. 


Burnet,  Bishop,  quoted  on  Articles,  341. 
on  subscription 
to  the  Articles,  342. 

Burton,  Dr.,  quoted  on  general  esta- 
blishment of  Bishops,  335. 

C. 
Calvin,  quoted  on  the  Church,  23,  n.  27,  n. 
on  separation  from  Church, 

29. 
on  the  Creed,  64,  n. 
on  the  word  prophecy,  139. 
on  Circumcision  and  Bap- 
tism, 193. 
on  the  benefit  of  Baptism, 

210,  n. 
Exposition  of  Acts  iii.  25, 

231. 
on    laying    on    of    hands, 

255,  n. 
on  Confirmation,  261. 
on  Christian  burial,  287,  n. 
Candlemas,  141. 
Canons,  authority  of,  340,  n. 
Carlton,  Bishop,  quoted  on  Sacramental 

Regeneration,  209.  n. 
Catechism,  236. 

history  of,  238. 
summary  of,  239. 
Catechizing,  duty  of,  237. 

objection  to,  answered,  246. 
public,  248. 
use  of,  249. 
Catholic  Church,  26,  64. 
Christmas,  116—119. 
Chrysostom,  his  prayer,  73. 
Church,  a,  defined,  15,  26,  27 
true,  16,  26—28. 
invisible,  16, 17,  28. 
nowhere  perfect  on  earth,  17, 

18,  23. 
the  spiritual  services  of,  17. 
her  authority,  19. 
limit  of,  21. 

duty  of  submission  to,  2l,  22. 
separation   from,  when  justifi- 
able, 22. 
privileges  of  her  faithful  mem- 
bers, 24. 
Churching,  301. 
Chronicles,  2nd   book   of,  not  read  in 

Church,  80. 
Circumcision,  the,  120. 
Clemens,  Romanus,  quoted,  307. 

on  primitive  Church 

government,  334. 
on  Apostolical   suc- 
cession, 336. 
Clergy,  derivation  of  word,  68,  n. 


354 


INDEX. 


Collect,  derivation  of  word,  66,  110. 
Collects,  the  excellence  of,  66,  111. 
Comber,  Dean,  quoted  on  Lord's  prayer, 
54,  n. 
on  Chrysostom's  pray- 
er, 73. 
on  prayers  in  Baptis- 
mal service,  199. 
on  the    sufficiency  of 

Scripture,  320. 
on  the  ministry,  319. 
on     consecration     of 
Bishops,  329. 
Commandments,  the,  164,  242,  243. 
Commandment,  morality  of  the  fourth 

95,  96 
Common  Prayer-book,  30. 

history  of,  32,  33,  34. 
Communion,  the,  153. 

formerly   a  separate    ser- 
vice, 181. 
with  departed  saints,  294. 
at  burials,  300. 
of  Saints  assisted  by  our 
common  prayers,  41,  n. 
Confession,  50. 

in  Communion,  169. 

auricular,  51,  179. 
of  Saxony,  quoted,  261. 
Confirmation,  250. 

its  use,  251. 
age  for,  252. 
qualifications,  253. 
the  service,  253—257. 
address  after,  257—260. 
prayers  after,  262,  263. 
Consecration  of  the  Eucharist,  173. 

of  baptismal  water,  205,  227, 228. 
of  Bishops,  325. 
Consecrated  elements,  187. 
Covenant,  the  baptismal,  201. 
Covenants,  the  old  and  new,  192,  193, 

222,  223. 
Cowper,  quoted,  118. 
Cranmer,  Archbishop,  quoted,  154,  n. 
Creed,  the,  63,  241.  242. 

standing  at  the  repetition  of,  80. 
use  of,  in  devotions,  80,  81. 
Nicene  64.  65. 
Cross,  sign  of,  in  Baptism,  206. 
Curnming,    Rev.    J.,    referred    to,    on 

Scotch  succession,  337. 
Cureton's,  Mr.,  Syriac  version  of  Igna- 
tius, 338. 
Cyprian,  quoted  on  daily  prayer,  47. 

on  manner  of  speaking   in 

prayer,  50,  n. 
on   "  Lift   up   your    hearts," 
171,  n. 


Cyprian  on  ancient  discipline,  125,  n. 

D. 

I  Daily  service,  46. 

scriptural  character  of, 
61,  62. 
prayer,  reasons  of,  46,  76,  77. 
[Exec.  Committee's  remarks  on  46, 49.] 
Daily  communion,  47,  n.  156,  and  n. 
Damnation,  use  of  the  word,  168,  n. 
Deacon,  derivation  of  the  word,  312,  n. 
office  for  ordination  of,  312. 
office  of  ancient,  315,  n. 
Demosthenes,  quoted,  319,  n. 
Discipline,  need  of  it,  156. 
Doddridge,  Dr.,  quoted  on  extempore 
prayer,  38,  n. 
on  the  baptism  of  Christ, 

198,  n. 
on  the   questions  in  Bap- 
tism, 202,  n. 
Doxology  in  the  Lord's  prayer,  55,  n. 
"  Glory  be  to  Father,  55. 
at  the  end  of  Psalms,  57,  n. 
Dress,  clerical,  313,  n. 

E. 

East,  turning  to,  81. 
Easter-eve,  129. 
day,  130. 
week,  132. 
Ember-days,  114. 
Epistles  and  Gospels,  110. 
Epiphany,  121. 

Episcopacy,  Evidence  for,  325—327. 
Eucharist,  derivation  of  word,  172,  n. 
Eusebius,    quoted    on    Passion-week, 
127,  n. 
his    catalogue    of    Bishops, 
307,  n.  320,  n. 
Exhortation  in  Daily  Service,  49. 

in  Communion,  156, 161,  168. 
to  Priests,  317—320. 
Extremes,  dangerous  in  religion,  175,  n. 
Exorcism,  anciently  used  in  Baptism, 

225. 
Ezekiel,  part  of,  not  read  in  Church,  80. 

F. 

Fall'd  stool,  S5. 
Fasts,  104. 

Fasting,   scriptural   authority  for,  105, 
106. 
use  of,  106—108. 
times  of,  108, 
manner  of,  108—110.  123. 
Father,    title    addressed    to    Bishops, 

313,  n. 
Feasts,  100. 

immovable,  140. 


INDEX. 


355 


Festivals,  our  Saviour's,  100. 

Fouls.  196,  n. 

Forms  of  prayer,  scriptural,  31,  32. 

usual    in    Churches    thoroughly 
settled,  32,  43,  44. 

do  not  produce  formality,  35. 

do  not  hinder  the  Spirit,  36. 

advantages  of,  37—39. 

for  private  houses,  77,  78. 

G. 

Gift  of  prayer,  distinct  from  the  grace, 

37. 
Good-Friday,  127. 

on  prayer  for,  148. 
Graham's,  M.  J.,  Memoir  referred  to, 

84,  n. 
Grindal,   Archbishop,  his   injunctions 

quoted,  181. 

H. 

Hall,   Bishop,    quoted    on    extempore 
prayer,  43. 
on  public  prayer,  47. 
on  fasting,  105. 
on  kneeling,  109,  n. 
Hall,  R.,  quoted  on  forms  of  prayer.  36. 
on  the  excellence  of  the  Pray- 
er-book. 45. 
on  a  careless  church,  216. 
Hell,  the  word  in  the  Creed,  explained, 

63,  n. 
Herbert,  G.,  quoted  on  the  responses, 
65. 
on  daily  prayer,  76. 
on  the  Litany,  83. 
on  Fasting,  108,  n.  109,  n. 
on  Church  festivals,  112. 
Hilary,  quoted  on  Order  of  Bishop  and 

Priest,  336,  n. 
Holy  days,  100, 

table  of,  144. 
Holy  Ghost,  invocation  of,  84. 

prayer  for,  146. 
Homilies,  book  of,  165,  n. 
Homily  xxviii.  quoted  on  Church,  15, 27. 
xx.  quoted  on  Sabbath,  95. 
xxiv.  on  Nativity,  117. 
xxi.  on  a  Sacrament,  153. 
xxvii.   on   the   Lord's   Supper, 

184, 283. 
xxviii.  and  xxix.  on  the  Lord's 
Supper,  2S2. 
Hooker,  quoted  on  the  Church,  15, 28, 29. 
on  prayer,  30. 
on  Forms  of  prayer,  32. 
on  public  prayer,  47.  n. 
on  Lord's  prayer,  54,  n. 
on  Psalms,  57. 


Hooker,  quoted  on  Lessons,  58. 

on  our   Saviour's  Festi- 
vals, 100. 
on  Saints'  days,  103. 
on  fasting,  107,  108. 
his  life  quoted  on  Ember- 
days,  115,  n. 
on  Rogation-days,  133. 
on  holy  days,  144. 
on  Lord's  prayer  in  Com- 
munion, 176. 
on  kneeling  at  the  Lord's 

Supper,  188. 
on  Baptism,  189,  n. 
on  John  iii.  5.  190,  n. 
on  Infant  Baptism,  194,  n. 
on  the  Sacraments,  196, 

n.  200,  n. 
on  the   promise  in  Bap- 
tism, 203,  n. 
on    perpetuity  of  faith, 

209. 
on  vicarious  faith,  214,  n. 
on    origin  of   Sponsors, 

224. 
on  Matrimony,  264. 
on  Burials,  288,  and  n. 
on  gifts  of  Holy  Ghost, 

322,  n. 
on  words  l:  receive  Holy 

Ghost,"  323,  n. 
on  name  of  Bishop.  325,  n. 
on  inequality  of  Pastors, 

327. 
on  establishment  of  Epis- 
copacy, 334. 
on    variety    of    Church 
Government,  337.  338. 
Hooper, Bishop,  quoted  on  daily  prayer, 
76. 
on  Baptism,  215,  n. 
218,  n. 
Hopkins,  Bishop,  quoted  on  Lord's  Sup- 
per, 154. 
on      preparation      for 
Lord's  Supper,   159, 
n.  160,  n. 
on  excuses  for  not  at- 
tending Lord's  Sup- 
per, 161. 
on     Infant     Baptism, 

194,  n. 
on  Sponsorship,  195,  n. 
on    baptismal    obliga- 
tion, 247,  n. 
Hosanna,  meaning  of  word,  55,  n 
Hospinian    referred   to  on   Christmas, 
119,  It. 


356 


INDEX. 


Hymns  in  Daily  Service,  58. 

I. 

Ignatius,  quoted  on  Matrimony,  264,  n. 
on  Episcopacy,  327,  338. 
Introits,  table  of,  145,  146. 
lrenaeus.  quoted  on  Apostolical  succes- 
sion, 327,  337. 


Jerome,  quoted  on  Amen,  53,  n. 

on  Presbyterial  government, 

334. 
on  Episcopacy,  327,  334. 
Jewell,  Bishop,  quoted  on   Baptismal 

Regeneration,  234. 
Justin    Martyr,    quoted    on    Common 
Prayer,  30,  n. 
on  Sunday,  143. 
on  Eucharist,  172. 
on  the  Lord's  Supper, 

184. 
on  Episcopacy,  335. 

K. 

Kneeling  at  prayer,  169,  and  n. 
at  Lord's  Supper,  188. 

L. 

Leighton,   Archbishop,  quoted  on  the 
Sacraments,  154,  n. 
on   the   misimprovement  of 
Baptism,  197,  n.  213,  n. 
Lent,  meaning  of  word,  122,  and  n. 

manner  of  improving,  123,  124. 
Lesser  Litany,  65,  n. 
Lessons,  59. 
Litany,  83. 

testimonies   to   its   excellence, 

83,  84,  and  n. 
once  a  separate  service,  92. 
Liturgies,  ancient,  44. 
Scotch,  44. 
Wesleyan,  45. 
Lord's-day,  authority  of,  93 — 97. 

mode  of  observance,  97, 98. 
Historical  evidence  of  its 
antiquity,  143. 
Lord's  Prayer,  53,  54,  244. 

frequent    repetition    of, 

54.  89. 
adapted  for  the  Regene- 
rate. 79. 
ancient  exposition  of  the 
petition         respecting 
"Daily  Bread,"  163,  n. 
suited  for  Lord's  supper. 
176.  and  n. 


Lord's  Prayer,  appropriate  to  the  bap- 
tized, 53,  207. 
Lord's  Supper,  its  institution,  154. 

form  of  administration, 
175. 
Luther,  quoted  on  the  Church,  27. 

M. 
Martyrs,  the  Commemoration  of,  119. 
Mass,  derivation  of  the  word,  166,  n. 
Masses,  solitary,  187. 
Matins,  46. 
Matrimony,  264. 

lawful  impediments  to,  265. 
the  vow  of,  265. 
use  of  ring,  in  266,  268. 
Maundy  Thursday,  127,  n. 
Melancthon,  quoted  on  John's  Baptism, 
190,  n. 
on    Baptismal    Regenera- 
tion, 210,  n. 
on  Baptism,  a  sign  of  Mor- 
tification, 197,  n. 
Michael,  (S.)  141,  and  n. 
Millennarii,  Article  against,  351. 
Milner,   Dean,  quoted  in  the  Confes 
si  on,  50. 
on  Baptismal  Regenera 
tion,  208,  n. 
on  the  benefits  of  Bap 
tism,  210,  n. 
Milner,  Rev.  J.  quoted  on  Fasting,  105. 
107. 
on  the  Lord's  Supper, 
185. 
Ministerial  Commission,  308. 
Counsel,  161. 
Succession,  308. 
Qualification,  309—311. 
Call.  314. 
Mortlock,  L.  W.   memoir  of,  quoted, 
84,  n. 

N 
Nelson,  quoted  on  Lord's  Day,  98. 
Newton,  Rev.  J.  quoted  on  a  form  of 

prayer,  31,  n.  35,  n.  36,  n. 
Nowel,  Dean,  quoted  on  the  Church, 
15—27. 
on  vicarious  sponsion,  202,  n. 
on  Catechising,  249. 
on  Confirmation,  251. 260. 

O. 

O.Tertory,  166. 

frequency  of,  1?1 

application  of.  181. 
Orders.  Holy.  3U5. 


INDEX. 


357 


Orders,  threefold,  307. 
age  for,  309. 
testimonials  for,  309. 
learning  required  for,  310. 
pastoral  exercise,  311,  n. 
Ordination  vow,  320. 

for  Deacons,  315. 
ceremony   of,    for   Priests, 
322. 
Order,  confusion  respecting  the  term, 

335. 
Original  sin,  implied  in  Baptism,  196. 
Owen,  Dr.  referred  to  on  the  Christian 
Sabbath,  97,  n. 
on  services  of  An- 
gels, 142. 
on  Jewish  Baptism, 

189,  n. 
on  the  original  of  the 
Lord's       Prayer, 
244,  n. 
quoted  on  the  interpretation 
of  Hebrew  xii.  5. 
283,  n. 
on  Communion  with 
departed      saints, 
294,  n. 


Palm-Sunday,  126,  n. 
Passion-Week,  126. 
Paul,  (S.)  his  Conversion,  140. 
Person  in  the  Trinity,  defined,  150. 
Philpot,   quoted    on    Infant    Baptism, 

202,  n. 
Pliny,  quoted  on  Sunday,  143. 
Post  Communion,  187. 
Prayer  compared  with  preaching,  30, 
165, 166. 
forms  of,  31. 
extempore,     when     allowed, 

31,  43. 
Family,  43,  77. 
Daily,  and  Public,  46,  76,  77. 
for  those  in  authority,  68. 
for  the  Clergy,  68. 
for  Congress,  59. 
for  all  conditions  of  men,  70. 
of  St.  Chrysostom,  73. 
for    New- Year's     Day,    and 
Whit-sunday,  146. 
Prayers   for    Ash- Wednesday,    146— 

148. 
Prayer  for  Good-Friday,  148. 

for  Rogation  days,  and  Saints' 

days,  149. 
for  Church  Militant,  167. 
Prayers  at  Sea,  303. 


Preparation  for  Lord's  Supper,  158. 

Presbyter-bishops,  307,  335. 

Priest,    definition  of  word,    182,  306, 

317,  n. 
Priests,-ordination  of,  316. 
office  of,  317—320. 
Psalms,  57. 

the  xcvth.  56. 
lxviith.  61. 
cth.  61. 
xxivth.  134. 
cxvilh.  302. 
xcvth.  56. 

objections  to  the,  answer- 
ed, 57. 

Q. 

Quadragesima,    and    Quinquagesima, 
words  explained,  122. 

R. 

Rambach's  Meditations,  127,  n 
Rauschenbusch's  memoir  quoted,   on 

Passion-Week,  127,  n. 
Regeneration,    its     connection     with 

Baptism,  191,  208,  230,  234. 
Regenerate,  Ecclesiastical  use  of  the 

word,  18. 
Repetitions,  vain,  41. 
Restitution,  159. 
Ridley,  Bp.  quoted   on   the  Articles, 

347. 
Robinson's   Rev.  T.  life    referred  to, 

253. 
Rochet,  329. 
Rogation  Days,  132. 
Rubrics,  78. 

Authority  of,  340,  n 


Sabaoth,  the   word  explained,  59.  n, 

141,  n. 
Sabbath  the  word  explained,  93. 
Institution,  94. 
Christian,  96. 
Sacrament,  a,  defined,  153,  245. 

a  representation,  sign,  and 
means    of    grace,    175, 
184,  245,  and  n,  246. 
errors      respecting,     155, 
175. 
Saints'  Days,  102. 

Popish,  in  Calender,  103. 
Sandys,  Archbishop,  quoted  on  Sacra- 
ments, 174,  184. 
Seeker,  Archbishop,  quoted  on  the  Ab- 
solution, 52. 


358 


Seeker,    Archbishop,    quoted   on   the 
Catholic  Church, 

64,  n. 
on     the     hymn, 
"Glory    be    to 
God,"  177,  n. 
on    Catechising, 

237. 
on  the  Command- 
ments, 243,  n. 
on  Confirmation, 

254. 
on      Ordination, 
321.  n. 
Scott,  Rev.  T.,  quoted  on  Infant  Bap- 
tism, 200,  n. 
on     Ordination, 
310,  n. 
Scripture,  sufficiency  of,  320. 
Sentences,  the  explained,  49. 
Separation,  lawful   and  unlawful,  23, 

29. 
Sharp,  Archdeacon,  quoted  on  Rubric. 

&c,  340,  n. 
Shepherd,    quoted     on     Catechising, 

238,  n. 
Sick,  the  Visitation  of,  269. 

the  use  of  the  service,  270. 
their   sufferings   not    expiatory, 

275. 
examination  of,  275,  276. 
bequests  of,  277. 
child,  prayer  for,  280. 
person  in   danger,  prayer    for, 

280. 
Communion  of,  282. 
unction  of,  285. 
Song  of  the  Three  Children,  60. 

of  Zacharias,  60. 
Sponsors  required  in  Infant  Baptism, 
195. 
origin  of,  224. 
duties  of,  211. 
Sponsion,  vicarious  grounds  of,  202 — 

204. 
Sparrow,  Bishop,  quoted  on  the  Col- 
lects, 66,  and  n. 
referred  to  on  Bene- 
dictory     Prayer, 
74. 
on  the  Creed,  80. 
quoted  on  "  Let   us 

pray,"  82. 
on  the  Consecration 

in  Baptism,  228. 
on  Visitation  of  Sick, 
276. 
Stephen,  St.,  day  of,  119,  120. 


Succession,  Ministerial,  308,  330. 
Sundays,  93. 

distinction  of,  98. 

Taylor,  Bishop,  quoted  on  the  Prayer 

Book,  34,  n.  38. 
Te  Deum,  the,  59. 

Tertullian,  quoted  on  the  Lord's  Pray- 
er, 54,  n. 

on  Matrimony,  264,  n. 

on  Marriage-ring,  268. 

on  Episcopacy,  325. 

on  Apostolical  succes- 
sion, 337. 
Tersanctus,  the  Hymn,  172,  n. 
Thanksgiving,  the  general,  72. 
Transubstantiation,  155,  n.  173. 
Trinity,  the  doctrine  of,  151—152. 
Trinity  Sunday,  139. 

U. 

Uniformity,  not  essential  to  Unity,  337, 

339. 
Unity  of  the  Godhead,  151. 
Usher,  Archbishop,  quoted  on  Infant 
Baptism,  203,  204. 
on  Baptismal  Re- 
generation, 208, 
and  n.  232. 
on  Baptismal  ob- 
ligation, 211. 


"  Veni  Creator,"  322. 
Vigils  or  Eves,  142. 
Virgin  Mary's  Days,  140. 
Visitation  of  the  sick,  269. 

W. 
Week-day  services,  76. 
Weeks,  division  of,  93. 
"  Week's    Preparation,"    referred   to 

158. 
Wesley,  Rev.  J.,  his  Liturgy,  45. 

his  testimony  to  the 
Prayer  Book,  45. 
Wheatly,  on  Sponsion,  203,  n. 

referred  to  on  Confirmation, 
260. 
Whytehead,   Rev.   T.   quoted   on    the 

Liturgy,  39,  n. 
Whit-sunday,  135. 

Wilkins,  Bishop,  quoted  on  Visitation 
of  Sick,  273,  n. 


Zuinglius,  his  error,  155.  n. 


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